Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Sorting Hat Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Unacademy)
The Bengaluru test-prep platform that began as Gaurav Munjal's YouTube channel. It built a creator-educator model of star teachers paid by watch time and sold through "Plus" subscriptions, raised ~$850m+ from SoftBank, General Atlantic, Temasek and others to reach a ~$3.4bn valuation in 2021, then spent four years cutting staff, trying offline centres and reducing burn, and in 2026 sold itself to upGrad in an all-stock deal at "just over $200m" (completed September 1, 2026).
At a glance
- Founded
- YouTube channel 2010; company (Sorting Hat Technologies) 2015, Bengaluru
- Founders
- Gaurav Munjal (CEO), Roman Saini (educator, former IAS officer and doctor), Hemesh Singh (CTO)
- Headquarters
- Bengaluru, India
- Ownership / structure
- Private venture-backed company; acquired by upGrad (Ronnie Screwvala) in an all-stock deal: term sheet March 2026, CCI approval July 7, 2026, completed September 1, 2026 (confirmed by Munjal and Screwvala)
- Leadership (2026)
- Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO (role after the upGrad deal: verify); Sumit Jain led Graphy
- Segment and buyer
- Consumer test-prep for Indian competitive exams (UPSC, JEE, NEET, banking, SSC, CA, GATE, medical PG via PrepLadder). Buyer: learners and their parents
- Scale
- Claimed ~50,000+ registered educators and tens of millions of learners at peak (company claims, 2021). FY25 total income ~₹826 crore (~$97m) and net loss ~₹436 crore (~$51m), per an internal document reported by Entrackr; cash ~₹1,200 crore (~$140m)
- Capital raised / valuation
- ~$850–880m raised (reported). Peak valuation ~$3.44bn (August 2021, Temasek-led). Sale to upGrad at "just over $200m" (Munjal); ~₹1,955 crore (~$206m) per Screwvala, with some reports giving ~₹2,055 crore
- Signature moves
- YouTube to company (2015); Plus subscription and educator payouts (2018); PrepLadder (2020); SoftBank Vision Fund round (2020); IPL sponsorship (2020–22); Graphy (2021); offline centres (2022); layoffs (2022–24); Airlearn language app (2024–25, verify); upGrad sale (2025–26). Misses: Relevel, CodeChef divestment, Karan Sangwan firing controversy (2023)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2015
From YouTube Channel to Company
Launch
2018
Plus Subscription and Educator Payouts
Pricing change / business model
2020
Acquires PrepLadder
Acquisition
2020
SoftBank Round and IPL Sponsorship
Funding round / brand marketing
2021
Graphy and Diversification Bets
Launch / diversification
2022
Layoffs and Retrenchment
Restructuring
2022
Offline Centres
Pivot / distribution
2023
Karan Sangwan Educator Firing
Policy / controversy
2026
Sale to upGrad
Acquisition (sale of the company)