upGrad sees senior exits amid Unacademy integration, IPO plans

₹2,055 crore, or about $245 million, marking a more than 90% drop from Unacademy’s 2021 peak valuation. The management churn is notable as upGrad works through integration planning, regulatory clearances and a broader internal restructuring while also preparing for a public listing.upGrad Enterprise sells skilling and training programmes to companies, helping them address gaps in their workforce through courses tailored to business needs, according to a senior former upGrad employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal matters.

In many cases, the unit works with clients to co-create courses for specific teams or functions rather than offering only standard modules, the former employee said.The business, however, is difficult to scale in India, where demand is concentrated among IT and manufacturing companies and where courses in data science, big data and artificial intelligence typically see the strongest demand, the former employee said.“Indian multinationals and smaller companies tend to spend less on workforce upskilling, leaving providers to compete for a relatively narrow pool of large corporate clients. That has made the segment intensely competitive, with players such as Emeritus and Simplilearn also chasing the same demand,” the former upGrad employee added.Against this backdrop, the second person quoted earlier said upGrad Enterprise was being repositioned to build deeper client relationships beyond IT, and shift towards a more product-led model.