Unacademy to exit offline centres, shift to franchise model, founder Gaurav Munjal tells employees
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Temasek-backed Unacademy is planning to shut down its centre business and convert it into a franchise model, founder Gaurav Munjal told employees. “Over the coming months, we will exit our company-operated centre business by converting them into franchise partnerships," Munjal said in an email to employees on 14 January.
Mint has reviewed a copy of the email. He added that the company’s franchise model has shown that it works with local operators, runs operations, and Unacademy’s academics, technology and reach. “It is asset-light, capital-efficient, and aligned with who we are.
By April, when this transition is complete, Unacademy will have one of the healthiest cost structures in the sector," Munjal said. The shift comes after edtech firms spent the past five years prioritising profitability and reining in growth as funding dried up. As the covid-driven online learning boom tapered off from 2022, Unacademy expanded into offline centres to sustain growth.
The latest move signals the company’s renewed push to return to its online-first model and focus on digital business. "Unacademy will be an online-first company moving forward. Like it was when we started in 2015," a company spokesperson said in response to Mint's queries.
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