Former Unacademy COO Vivek Sinha Raises $11 Million for EdTech Venture with Lightspeed and Matrix Backing

• ByStartupStory     |    December 19, 2023

Edtech unicorn Unacademy’s former chief operating officer (COO) Vivek Sinha has reportedly secured funding of $11 million (around INR 91 crore) for his new edtech startup. The round saw participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and angel investors like Oyo group CEO and founder Ritesh Agarwal, as well as Unacademy CEO and cofounder Gaurav Munjal, Moneycontrol reported. Sinha’s new startup is expected to focus on the upskilling sector, providing support to the healthcare industry.

The parent entity was registered in September under the name Beyond Odds. However, the specific name of the company remains undisclosed. The funding round is ongoing, with Sinha actively seeking more angel investors, which means that the final details of the deal may change.

When contacted by Inc42, Sinha declined to confirm the news. Sinha resigned from his position of COO at Unacademy in August, expressing gratitude for the opportunities, friendships, and memories he gained during his three-year tenure. Unacademy reported its maiden cash flow-positive month in June 2023. Although it is yet to file its financials for FY23, the edtech unicorn posted a net loss of INR 2,848 crore in FY22, which was an 85% increase year-on-year (YoY).

Recently, Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal claimed that the company managed to reduce its cash burn by 60% in 2023. Sinha, an alumnus of NIT Jamshedpur and ISB, joined Unacademy in August 2020 as the COO. In his role, he managed the full-stack P&L of digital test prep, hybrid centers, K12, and jobs & skills verticals. Prior to Unacademy, Sinha worked at OYO and Mobikwik. At OYO, he managed a separate business unit (SBU) for the startup’s joint venture with Softbank, overseeing luxury hotels in the country.

The startup industry has seen several senior-level departures in 2023, with many of these executives now venturing into launching new startups. Last month, it was reported that Swiggy’s senior vice president Karthik Gurumurthy would be departing the foodtech giant to launch his own startup called Convenio. The new platform will operate in the offline space and will mirror Swiggy. Earlier this year, GVK’s Keshav Reddy and former director of engineering at foodtech giant Swiggy, Rajeev Ranjan, launched Equal, a digital platform for Indians to share IDs with one click.

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