upGrad Appoints Ex-JioStar Executive Mukesh Mundra As CFO
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Edtech unicorn upGrad has appointed Mukesh Mundra as its CFO ahead of its proposed acquisition of Unacademy.
Mundra joins the Ronnie Screwvala-led startup from JioStar, where he served as the head of finance. Prior to that, he was the CFO of Viacom18 for more than eight years, overseeing financial strategy and business transformation initiatives.
A chartered accountant and CFA, he brings experience of over 26 years across media, telecom, manufacturing and consumer businesses.
Earlier, Mundra worked at Idea Cellular, where he was involved in the Spice Communications deal and the formation of Indus Towers joint venture. He also worked with Grasim Industries and Anand Rathi Group previously.
In his new role, Mundra will lead upGrad’s finance and administration functions, including financial strategy, governance, business partnering and operational scale-building.
The development comes as upGrad awaits CCI approval for its proposed acquisition of Unacademy. The all-stock deal, valued at around ₹2,055 Cr (about $218 Mn), marks a sharp fall from Unacademy’s peak valuation of $3.4 Bn in 2021.
upGrad said the acquisition will help it enter the online test preparation segment and expand offerings for existing users. Unacademy is also expected to have cash reserves of ₹900-₹950 Cr at the time of the deal closure.
The acquisition, along with other such amalgamation deals, is expected to play a key role in upGrad’s future expansion. The Unacademy deal itself could reportedly add around ₹500 Cr to upGrad’s consolidated revenue.
upGrad reportedly turned profitable in the first 11 months of FY26 ahead of the deal. It posted a profit of ₹38 Cr on provisional and unaudited revenue of ₹1,532 Cr during the period.
It is expected to close FY26 with revenue of around ₹1,972 Cr and a profit of over ₹60 Cr.
In FY25, upGrad narrowed its net loss by over 50% to ₹273.7 Cr, while operating revenue rose 6% YoY to ₹1,569.3 Cr.
Notably, upGrad’s current valuation stands at $1.7 Bn, 24% lower than its peak valuation of $2.25 Bn in 2022.
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