Former Unacademy Executive Vivek Sinha Nets $11 Mn For His New Edtech Venture

Edtech unicorn Unacademy’s former chief operating officer (COO) Vivek Sinha has reportedly secured funding of $11 Mn (around INR 91 Cr) for his new edtech startup.

The round saw participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, angel investors like Oyo group CEO and founder Ritesh Agarwal and Unacademy CEO and cofounder Gaurav Munjal, Moneycontrol reported.

Sinha’s new startup is likely to focus on the upskilling sector, providing support to the healthcare industry.

The parent entity was registered in September under the name Beyond Odds. However, the name of the company remains undisclosed.

The funding round is ongoing, with Sinha actively seeking more angel investors. Consequently, the final details of the deal may change.

Inc42 has reached out to Sinha, but he declined to confirm the news.

Sinha resigned from his position of COO at Unacademy in August .“After three incredible years at Unacademy, I have decided to take the next step in my career. Grateful for the opportunities, friendships, and memories I have gained. Thank you for believing in me and constantly pushing me to operate at (the) peak of my abilities Gaurav Munjal,” said Sinha at the time of his departure.

The edtech unicorn reported its maiden cash flow-positive month in June 2023. It is yet to file its financials for FY23, however, it posted a net loss of INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, up 85% year-on-year (YoY).

Recently, Munjal claimed that the edtech unicorn managed to reduce its cash burn by 60% in 2023.

Meanwhile, an NIT Jamshedpur and ISB alumnus Sinha joined Unacademy in August 2020 as the COO. In his role at the edtech unicorn, he managed the full-stack P&L of digital test prep, hybrid centres, K12 and jobs & skills verticals.

Earlier, Sinha had worked at OYO and Mobikwik. At OYO, Sinha managed an SBU (separate business unit) for the startup’s joint venture with Softbank managing luxury hotels in the country.

In 2023, the startup industry witnessed several senior-level departures, with many of these executives now venturing into launching new startups.

Last month it was reported that Swiggy’s senior vice president Karthik Gurumurthy would be departing the foodtech giant to launch his own startup called Convenio. The new platform will operate in the offline space and will mirror Swiggy.

Earlier this year, GVK’s Keshav Reddy and former director of engineering at foodtech giant Swiggy, Rajeev Ranjan, launched Equal, a digital platform for Indians to share IDs with one click.