Innovating Education: The Gaurav Munjal Story

Who is Gaurav Munjal?

Gaurav Munjal is the co-founder and CEO of Unacademy, one of India's leading online education platforms. Under his leadership, Unacademy has expanded its offerings, attracting significant investment and becoming a key player in India's booming edtech industry. His vision of creating accessible and high-quality educational content has driven the platform's growth and helped establish it as a prominent name in the field of online learning.

Gaurav Munjal Biography

Gaurav Munjal - Early Life and Education

Gaurav Munjal completed his schooling at St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur. As a bright student right from his college days, signs of his becoming an entrepreneur were quite evident. While he studied B.Tech at NMIMS, Mumbai, he co-founded Flatchat with Himesh Singh in 2014.

Flatchat links renters, seekers, potential owners, and persons searching for roommates. Munjal started Flatchat to assist individuals in finding compatible roommates. Munjal sold Flatchat to the real estate web portal CommonFloor in 2015 for $2.5 million.

In 2010, Munjal started his YouTube channel where he presented Java tutorials and other coding concepts. This channel later transitioned into what we know as Unacademy. He also worked at Directi as a software developer.

Gaurav Munjal - Unacademy

Munjal found that their problem statement was the current state of the Indian education system. It is expensive and needs better placement options. To democratize education, Munjal, along with Hemesh Singh, Roman Saini, and Sumit Jain, officially founded Unacademy in 2015.

What began its journey as a YouTube channel, Unacademy today is an edtech platform helping aspiring students to prepare for competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, UPSC, Chartered Accountancy, GATE, UPSC NDA, CUET, Boards etc. 

It launched Unacademy Plus, a paid subscription in 2019 where students could access live courses in 14 Indian languages apart from English.

Unacademy - Startup Story | Founders | Business Model

Read about Unacademy’s latest funding, acquisitions, Business Model, revenue, & the success story of transforming to be a leading edtech Startup.

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Gaurav Munjal - Journey So Far

It is a norm that Indian startups that have become unicorns generally have founders graduating from IITs and IIMs. Defying this norm, Munjal believes that a non-IIT background has helped him in his entrepreneurial journey. While answering a reader on Quora, Munjal explained why being a non-IITian worked for him. Here’s why:

• "Sometimes IIT makes you complacent: Okay, avoiding all controversies here and not making a generalized statement, some IITians are very complacent about the fact that they are in IIT and for them that's it, they want to get a good GPA and get placed. The fact that I was not in IIT and all my friends from school (Xavier's Jaipur) were made me a little insecure and hence I struggled and worked hard a lot without being complacent."
• "Less Competition: Sometimes because of huge competition people get discouraged, for example, if I had started up at IIT, I would have been one of the many startups that year, and I may or may not have been noticed by the right guys. Whereas in my college we were the only ones running a startup, hence when an angel investor came to give a talk - we met and got along. The glass is always half full, never forget that."
• "There is no backup: Unlike IITs, we non-IITians didn't have the backup of a good job. The only companies that came to our college were service companies offering packages of 3.2L per annum. I swore to myself in my second year that I would not join one of those and be a guinea pig. Thus, I struggled and worked hard a lot since I had no backup, the only way out was up."

Since the inception of Unacademy, Munjal and his team of educators have been bringing about a change in the way Indian students learn. Deeply focused on the quality of education, Unacademy launched Graphy in 2020. Graphy is a tool that helps educators launch their online school in under 60 seconds.

Gaurav Munjal - Investments

Gaurav Munjal’s angel profile is quite a comprehensive one. Here’s an overview of his investments in the Indian startup landscape.

Gaurav Munjal has invested in 57 companies till date. Some notable companies in his investment portfolio include Pine Labs, Pratilipi, and Ultrahuman. He has invested in over 21 sectors including Enterprise Applications, Media, and others. 

The most recent investment was in Infinyte Club (Series A Round) on Aug 12, 2024. LightFury Games ($8.5M), BiteSpeed ($3.46M), and Emversity ($11M) are other investments made in 2024.

Gaurav Munjal - Controversies

Gaurav Munjal’s video in August 2024, sparked erratic reactions when he announced that there would be no appraisals for his employees while wearing a $400 Burberry T-shirt. The entrepreneur faced backlash on social media for delivering unfortunate news while he wore an expensive outfit. 

"I think 2023 was an average year for us. But 2024, if not great, was above average. But we did not hit our growth goals. The good part is that the burn is extremely low now, and we have a huge runway. And I kept saying that we don't have a survival risk," said Munjal explaining the reason for not giving out appraisals.

The announcement followed the layoff of 250 employees from marketing, sales, and streamline operations departments.

Gaurav Munjal - Top Quotes

In a conversation with Shardha Sharma of YourStory, Gaurav Munjal spoke about the challenges in the edtech industry. Additionally, he urged young entrepreneurs to move to Bangalore as provides the perfect ecosystem for tech startups. He believes that Bangalore provides a vital environment for budding startups whether it be finding the right opportunities or investors, increasing the odds for one’s success.

“Bangalore is a slower-paced city. The goal of tech parks of Mumbai and Delhi should be to move to Bangalore” added Munjal.

Final Words

Like every other dreamer, Gaurav Munjal had humble beginnings. He identified a problem, used his skills and built something that caters to a crucial demographic of the country. 

Gaurav Munjal believes his approach to the edtech revolution is bullish. As he is in the ninth year of his entrepreneurship, his goal is to pull off a great IPO in the edtech sector. 

Not depending on solely offering online education, Munjal has ventured into offline setups and language learning showing his willingness to experiment further. Despite having contemporaries like Allen and Phycics Wallah, Munjal’s relentless strive to offer quality education safeguards Unacademy’s success in the foreseeable future.

FAQs

Who is Gaurav Munjal?

Gaurav Munjal is the co-founder and CEO of Unacademy.

When was Unacademy founded?

Unacademy was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Dr. Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh in 2015.

What is Unacademy?

Unacademy is an online platform that makes both learning and teaching easy with its educational videos and lectures.

Is Gaurav Munjal married?

Yes, Gaurav Munjal is married to Reema Behl.