upGrad’s bid to acquire rival Unacademy has fallen through. The Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn walked away from the deal after the two sides disagreed on price. So, what went wrong after months of talks?
The Valuation Conundrum: The deal collapsed as Unacademy was seeking a valuation of $300 Mn to $400 Mn, but there was no clarity on the valuation upGrad was willing to offer. With the exam-prep market saturated and user retention under pressure, upGrad appears to have been unwilling to absorb the distressed company at the inflated price tag.
Unacademy Up For Sale: The collapse comes barely a month after cofounder and group CEO Gaurav Munjal confirmed, for the first time, that the startup was open to being sold. He had also acknowledged that Unacademy’s valuation had likely plummeted to below $500 Mn, just 14% of its $3.5 Bn 2021 peak.
The startup has been in acquisition talks with multiple companies, including K-12 Techno Services, Allen and upGrad, over the past 18 months amid a broader post-pandemic slowdown in the edtech sector.
The Fall From Edtech Highs: Unacademy’s collapse from a unicorn to a distressed asset reflects the edtech sector’s brutal truth. While the startup rode the pandemic boom, it couldn’t sustain growth. High burn rates, exam-prep saturation, weak retention and failed acquisitions squeezed margins and capital. Exits of cofounders, including Munjal and Roman Saini, also signal deep internal stress.
With upGrad now out of the picture, the troubled edtech startup faces fewer options. So, will it engineer a turnaround, or settle for a lower valuation? For now, here is how the upGrad-Unacademy merger talks fell apart.
Kids today don’t just want toys, they want experiences. Smartphones, AR, drones, and gaming consoles have rewired expectations, shrinking attention spans and forcing toy makers to innovate or fade. Mirana Toys is building exactly that.
An Accidental Toy Maker: Founded in 2021, Mirana Toys started as Zemote Home Automation, an IoT smart home venture. During the pandemic, with vendors idle and import duties on Chinese toys rising, the startup built a hover football as a passion project. It sold over 4-5 lakh units on ecommerce platforms. That response triggered deeper research.
Tech Meets Manufacturing: Mirana is a B2B-first design house and OEM manufacturer for toys, producing 5,000-10,000 units per SKU across six to nine months. Its products connect to a proprietary app with AR games and challenges. The app has crossed 1 Lakh downloads so far.
Mirana’s Edge: The startup recently moved to a medium-sized facility in Ahmedabad, with a much larger 3 Lakh sq ft plant on the anvil. The startup is also expanding into new categories, including AI-powered storytelling robots and talking companions.
Backed by InfoEdge, Mirana has raised INR 113.5 Cr to date and sells its products across 4,000+ retail stores and major ecommerce platforms. Looking ahead, it aims to establish a stable export business within the next year. But can Mirana challenge China’s toy manufacturing hegemony?
The year 2025 marked a turning point for India’s E2W market. Scale, distribution and execution began to matter more than early-mover advantage. Here’s what the reshuffle looks like.
Curated by Shiv Shakti Mishra
