Sector: EdTech
Founded: 2015
Valuation: $3.4 billion (2021)

Overview: Unacademy offers online courses and tutorials for students and professionals, democratizing education by providing affordable access to quality learning materials. The platform features top educators and provides courses across a wide range of subjects. It’s a leading EdTech platform offering live classes, test preparation, and personalized learning for K-12 students and competitive exam aspirants. Unacademy implemented a freemium model, where basic content is free, but premium content is available through subscription plans.

Challenges encountered:

• Ensuring profitability in the competitive EdTech space, where customer acquisition costs are high.
• Offering a diverse range of courses while maintaining content quality.
• High content production and educator onboarding costs.
• Managing cash flow as the company rapidly scaled during the pandemic.
• Balancing quality and affordability in education for a diverse student demographic.

Solutions:

• Educator Partnerships: Suggested revenue-sharing models with top educators, lowering upfront content production costs while aligning incentives with growth.
• Subscription and Freemium Models: Recommended introducing a freemium model to attract more students and drive them to paid subscriptions, improving cash flow and user retention.
• Cost Management: Implemented lean operational practices, focusing on reducing marketing spend and optimizing content delivery systems.
• The company raised over $500 million from investors like SoftBank, Sequoia, and General Atlantic, which helped it scale its operations and offer competitive salaries to top educators.

Outcomes Attained:

• Reduced educator onboarding costs by aligning incentives through revenue-sharing agreements.
• Improved cash flow and user retention through the introduction of subscription and freemium models.
• Lowered operational costs, contributing to profitability as the platform scaled across India.