Unacademy Unveils UnacademyX To Offer Immersive Learning Experience For UPSC Aspirants

Edtech startup Unacademy has unveiled UnacademyX, a new paltform for UPSC aspirants. The new platform plans to offer gamified and immersive learning experiences, Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal tweeted on Tuesday (May 30).

The new product is currently offering a 14-day free trial period to users. Post the trial period, users can subscribe for an INR 499 plan to get unlimited content access. However, the company will charge INR 1,499 after the expiry of the introductory offer.

Further, UnacademyX offers in-depth coverage of all chapters, immersive lessons with audio explanation and practice questions, as can be seen on the app. However, the content is not available yet on the app, as it says ‘coming soon’.

Last year, Unacademy acquired test prep startup Gate Academy for an undisclosed amount to expand its presence into the graduate aptitude test in engineering (GATE) category.

However, the edtech startup reported a 85% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net loss to INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, despite its consolidated revenue from operations jumping 80% to INR 719 Cr.

Unacademy has conducted four rounds of layoffs over the past 12 months and has fired more than 1,500 employees starting March 2022. The leadership team at Unacademy said that they would undertake multiple rounds of layoffs to sail through the funding winter and business slowdown, and will take up 25% pay cuts for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

However, Munjal said last month that the edtech startup has ‘significantly reduced’ its burn rate and will ‘almost generate’ a profit at the group level in April.

In internal messages sent to employees, which included slides prepared for its board meeting which concluded on April 10, Munjal rubbished claims that Unacademy was ‘not doing well’ and said that 2023 will be the best year for the edtech platform since its inception in 2015.

The fate of edtech startups have changed post the pandemic era with the return of physical classes and academic institutes. Vamsi Krishna-led edtech unicorn Vedantu, BYJU’S also reported a loss in its financial performance for FY22. Meanwhile, PhysicsWallah, which reported a profit of INR 97.8 Cr in FY22, also seems to be at a crossroad.

As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, edtech startups, including BYJU’S, Vedantu, and Unacademy, have fired more than 8,500 employees since 2022.