upGrad acquires Unacademy in all-stock deal

Indian edtech company upGrad acquired rival Unacademy in an all-stock deal, consolidating two of India's largest online education platforms. The merger creates one of the largest edtech companies in Asia by user base. Both companies had seen declining valuations after the pandemic-era edtech boom faded. The consolidation is expected to reduce competition for students and allow the combined entity to cut overlapping costs. The deal reflects a broader trend of edtech consolidation in India, where dozens of startups that raised large funding rounds during COVID are now struggling to reach profitability.