‘We Are In Default Alive State With 1200 Crores In The Bank’: Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal

Edtech firm Unacademy plans to significantly reduce its cash burn in core operations to below Rs 200 crore this calendar year, an 80 per cent drop from Rs 1,000 crore just three years ago, as disclosed by CEO Gaurav Munjal.

Gaurav Munjal opens up

The CEO of the Bengaluru-based firm said in a post on X that the company is doubling down on profitability and operational focus.

The edtech startup’s cash burn this year is also half of what it was in 2024, with the company now in a “default alive” state, holding Rs 1,200 crore in the bank, Munjal added.

Munjal clarified that profit, not acquisitions, will be the core strategy going forward.

“Any edtech that goes after multiple acquisitions to grow is bound to fail. It just doesn’t work in this market,” he wrote, referencing past missteps without naming any firm.

“Keeping the blinders on and not worrying about who is acquiring whom, and focusing on profit, is the only way to go,” he said, talking about the startup’s strategy going forward.

Significant Improvement in Cash Burn in the Core Business. Three years ago we used to Burn more than 1000 crores here, this CY it will be under 200 crores. This is half of what we did last year.

— Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) April 21, 2025

It is a major move for Unacademy, which, like many others during the peak of the pandemic, experimented with aggressive M&A to scale its business.

Some of its notable acquisitions include firms like TapChief, Rheo TV, Swiflearn, and smaller startups like Kreatryx, CodeChef, and PrepLadder.

Recently, Munjal has been busy promoting a language learning app called Airlearn (formerly Unacademy Languages)  on social media.

Launched in India in June 2024, the Airlearn app was introduced to give competition to global language learning giants like Duolingo and Babbel.

The Unacademy CEO even claimed that Airlearn is the fastest-growing tech product within the Group, with nearly 70,000 daily active users and $2 million in annual recurring revenue over the past 12 months.

Also read: Piyush Goyal Launches 'The Bharat Project' To Create 1 Mn Entrepreneurs From Tier 2, Tier 3 And Rural India (startuppedia.in)