upGrad has appointed Mukesh Mundra as its chief financial officer ahead of its proposed acquisition of Unacademy, a move that comes as the edtech unicorn awaits approval from the Competition Commission of India for the transaction. Mundra joins the Ronnie Screwvala-led company from JioStar, where he headed finance. He previously served as CFO of Viacom18 for more than eight years, handling financial strategy and business transformation initiatives. A chartered accountant and CFA with more than 26 years of experience, Mundra has also worked across media, telecom, manufacturing and consumer businesses, including stints at Idea Cellular, Grasim Industries and Anand Rathi Group.
In his new role, Mundra will oversee upGrad’s finance and administration functions, including financial strategy, governance, business partnering and support for operational scaling. His appointment comes at a critical time for the company as it positions itself for expansion through acquisitions. The proposed all-stock acquisition of Unacademy is valued at about ₹2,055 crore, or roughly $218 million, far below the online learning platform’s peak valuation of $3.4 billion in 2021. upGrad said the deal would strengthen its presence in the online test preparation market while expanding offerings for its existing user base.
Unacademy is expected to bring cash reserves of about ₹900 crore to ₹950 crore at the time of deal closure. The acquisition, along with other amalgamation-led growth moves, is expected to play an important role in upGrad’s future expansion strategy. The deal could also add around ₹500 crore to upGrad’s consolidated revenue, according to reports.
The company has been improving its financial performance ahead of the transaction. upGrad reportedly turned profitable in the first 11 months of FY26, posting a provisional and unaudited profit of ₹38 crore on revenue of ₹1,532 crore. It is expected to close FY26 with revenue of about ₹1,972 crore and profit of more than ₹60 crore. In FY25, the company narrowed its net loss by more than 50% to ₹273.7 crore, while operating revenue rose 6% year on year to ₹1,569.3 crore. Despite the recent improvement, upGrad’s current valuation stands at $1.7 billion, down 24% from its peak valuation of $2.25 billion in 2022.
