Unacademy Forays Into Language Learning Segment, To Launch Platform In The US First

Edtech major Unacademy on Thursday (February 15) announced its foray into the language learning space, with the launch of its new venture, Unacademy Language Learning App.

The startup’s cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal made the announcement in a post on X. Interestingly, the app will first be launched in the US later this summer.

“Unacademy Language Learning App is launching in (the) US this summer,” said Munjal.

The post accompanied snippets of the upcoming app, which read that the app will offer “gamified bites to practice and learn” as well as “short and interactive storytelling”.

Inc42 has reached out to the company for more details on the upcoming app. This story will be updated based on the response.

Since 2022, the startup has been beefing up its product portfolio amid the raging funding winter. In May last year, it launched UnacademyX to offer gamified and immersive learning experiences to UPSC aspirants. 

In April 2023, Unacademy’s SaaS marketplace vertical, Cohesive, pivoted to AI-generated content. Not just this, the company has pivoted multiple of its offerings, including Relevel and Graphy, while moving to a more hybrid model.

The development comes at a time when the edtech startup has been looking to turn its fortunes around and slash its losses. As part of this, the company has undertaken mass layoffs and restructured operations amid the ongoing funding winter.

Unacademy has fired more than 1,200 employees since 2022, as per Inc42’s Layoffs Tracker. It fired 50 employees at its SaaS arm Graphy in October last year, as the vertical failed to take off.

The efforts bore fruit as the edtech unicorn’s consolidated net loss declined 41% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,678.1 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). Not just this, the startup also reported a 26% increase in operating revenues to INR 907 Cr in FY23 against INR 719.2 Cr a year ago. 

In December last year, Munjal took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that the startup reduced its cash burn by 60% in 2023. 

Amid this, Unacademy has also seen a bevy of top-level exits, including chief operating officer Vivek Sinha and chief finance officer (CFO) Subramanian Ramachandran. However, the company has been steadily roping in new faces to fill the vacancies. Last month, it appointed Pratik Dalal as the CFO of its offline business.