Online education and skilling platform upGrad is experiencing significant senior-level departures as it integrates Unacademy following its acquisition. According to reports from Mint, the Ronnie Screwvala-promoted group's chief financial officer (CFO) Venkatesh Tarakkad and upGrad Enterprise chief executive officer (CEO) Srikanth Iyengar are among those leaving the company. Other senior executives who have exited include Sunita Mohanty, president and chief revenue officer, India at upGrad Enterprise; Shantanu Gupta, AVP, finance, upGrad B2C; Naasha Cama, director, legal, upGrad B2C; and Reetesh Chandra, AVP, tech, upGrad B2C. All six exiting officials confirmed their departures when contacted by Mint.
The departures come at a sensitive time as upGrad streamlines operations and repositions parts of the business while working on the Unacademy integration. As reported by Mint, upGrad had signed a term sheet to acquire Unacademy in an all-stock deal expected to value its smaller rival at around ₹2,055 crore ($245 million), marking a more than 90% drop from Unacademy's 2021 peak valuation. The company is actively exploring acquisitions, including select assets of Byju's, and preparing for an IPO targeting to raise $350-400 million by 2027. upGrad has also reduced its global workforce to about 3,400 from around 5,500 less than 18 months ago as it pushes for a leaner organization focused on outcomes and execution.
Venkatesh Tarakkad's exit is particularly significant as he oversaw finance, governance and compliance at the group level during a critical period ahead of a possible IPO. According to Mint, he joined upGrad after serving as CFO at logistics provider Ecom Express and earlier as group CFO at TCNS Clothing Co. Ltd, where he led the company's IPO process and listing. To replace Iyengar, upGrad has brought in Arushee Agarwal, formerly the head of Coursera's B2B business in India, to lead the enterprise unit with greater focus on AI-led products and international markets such as the Middle East and North Africa. A replacement CFO is expected to join within the next 60 days.
upGrad turned operationally profitable in FY25 with revenue of around ₹1,650 crore. The company is repositioning upGrad Enterprise to build deeper client relationships beyond IT and shift towards a more product-led model, as reported by Mint. The enterprise unit accounts for less than 8% of upGrad's overall revenue and competes in India's corporate training market, which reached $12.2 billion in 2025 according to market research firm IMARC Group. The business faces intense competition from players such as Emeritus, Simplilearn, Coursera and Newton School, with demand concentrated among IT and manufacturing companies.
