How the Unacademy-upGrad deal unfolded; Why AI could push India’s ER&D revenue past $100B

upGrad has wrapped up the acquisition of Unacademy for a little over $200 million.

The deal almost did not happen. The two companies failed to agree on a valuation early this year. After months of negotiations, the acquisition is now complete, bringing together two major edtech businesses in the country.

The final deal value is more than 90% lower than Unacademy’s peak valuation of $3.4 billion in 2021. The steep reset reflects how investor expectations for consumer edtech have changed since the pandemic-era boom. The acquisition gives upGrad greater scale and a wider range of offerings, while drawing the curtain on Unacademy’s journey as a standalone company.

Still on consolidation, insurtech startups InsuranceDekho and RenewBuy have announced a merger to build a pan-India insurance distribution platform. This brings together InsuranceDekho’s strong presence in northern and western India with RenewBuy’s network in the south.

The combined entity will start with considerable scale: a premium book of over Rs 6,600 crore, more than 6 lakh digital partners, and coverage across 98% of India’s pin codes.

In other news, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has outlined a 20-year vision for building the country’s semiconductor ecosystem.

Semicon 2.0—the second phase of India’s semiconductor programme with an outlay of Rs 1.27 lakh crore—seeks to boost local manufacturing and strengthen the country’s design and skills base.

The challenge for India is not simply to make chips but to build enough depth to compete across the value chain.

Here’s your trivia for today: What makes the 1939 novel Gadsby a lipogram? (Scroll down for the answer)

The engineering research and development (ER&D) services revenue from India is projected to cross $100 billion by 2030, up from an estimated $63 billion in FY26, as artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies reshape global product development, according to Nasscom.

What makes the 1939 novel ‘Gadsby’ a lipogram?

Answer: It doesn’t contain the letter ‘e’.

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