Unacademy Picks BYJU’S-Owned Aakash’s Anurag Tiwari To Lead Offline Vertical

Edtech startup Unacademy has appointed BYJU’S-owned Aakash Educational Institute’s Anurag Tiwari as the National Academic Director for its physical classes division.

Tiwari also served as the National Academic Director at Aakash and was responsible for innovative pedagogies, curriculum development, and educators learning management with a student-centric approach during his stint. He has over 18 years of experience.

“As we continue to empower and shape the future of education, Anurag will play a pivotal role in driving our mission forward. Anurag will be responsible for overseeing pedagogy, academic operations, strategies, and outcomes on a national level for Unacademy Centres for IIT JEE, NEET UG, and Foundation,” Unacademcy cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a statement.

With growth in online vertical tapering down, edtech startups, including BYJU’S, Unacademy and PhysicsWallah, have turned their focus to offline classes since last year.

Amid the slowdown, Unacademy launched UnacademyX in May this year to enter the UPSC test preparation market. 

In April, Munjal also said that Unacademy, which reported a 85% year-on-year rise in its net loss to INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, ‘significantly reduced’ its burn rate and was on its way to ‘almost generate’ a profit at the group level during the month. 

Later, Munjal claimed that Unacademy reported its maiden cash flow positive month in June 2023, in line with the company’s internal projections that target profitable numbers for its digital test preparation business between April and December 2023.

However, this came at a cost. The Unacademy Group, like many other Indian edtech startups, has fired 540 employees since last year in order to cut costs and turn profitable.

The latest development also comes at a time when BYJU’S is involved in a legal battle with the founder family of Aakash over a share swap agreement.