Online education and skilling platform upGrad is seeing senior-level exits as it integrates Unacademy after acquiring the K-12 edtech startup, ahead of a potential public listing next year.
The Ronnie Screwvala-promoted group’s chief financial officer (CFO), Venkatesh Tarakkad, and upGrad Enterprise chief executive officer (CEO), Srikanth Iyengar, among others, are on their way out, two people with knowledge of the matter said on the condition of anonymity.
Tarakkad’s exit is significant because he oversaw finance, governance and compliance at the group level at a time when upGrad was sharpening its business ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO), the first person said. 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.
Iyengar led upGrad Enterprise, the company’s business-focused skilling arm, and his exit comes amid a change of strategy at that unit, the second person said. Iyengar had been CEO of upGrad Enterprise since 2022, and previously held senior roles at QA Ltd, Conduent, Capgemini, IGATE and Infosys.
Besides Tarakkad and Iyengar, other senior executives who have exited the company 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.
Mint reached out to upGrad and all six exiting officials mentioned in this story for comments and confirmation of the development. Tarakkad, Gupta, Cama, Chandra, and Iyengar confirmed their exits, while Mohanty, and the company had not responded to queries till press time.
Sensitive time
The exits come at a sensitive time for upGrad as it streamlines operations and repositions parts of the business even as it works on the Unacademy integration. The exits also come as the company actively explores acquisitions, including select assets of Byju’s. The company is preparing for an IPO by 2027, targeting to raise $350-400 million, Mint reported in January.
Mint reported earlier that 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, or about $245 million, marking a more than 90% drop from Unacademy’s 2021 peak valuation. The management churn is notable as upGrad works through integration planning, regulatory clearances and a broader internal restructuring while also preparing for a public listing.
upGrad Enterprise sells skilling and training programmes to companies, helping them address gaps in their workforce through courses tailored to business needs, according to a senior former upGrad employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal matters. In many cases, the unit works with clients to co-create courses for specific teams or functions rather than offering only standard modules, the former employee said.
The business, however, is difficult to scale in India, where demand is concentrated among IT and manufacturing companies and where courses in data science, big data and artificial intelligence typically see the strongest demand, the former employee said.
“Indian multinationals and smaller companies tend to spend less on workforce upskilling, leaving providers to compete for a relatively narrow pool of large corporate clients. That has made the segment intensely competitive, with players such as Emeritus and Simplilearn also chasing the same demand,” the former upGrad employee added.
Against this backdrop, the second person quoted earlier said upGrad Enterprise was being repositioned to build deeper client relationships beyond IT, and shift towards a more product-led model. The enterprise unit accounts for less than 8% of upGrad ’s overall revenue.
Operationally profitable
upGrad turned operationally profitable in FY25, with a revenue of around ₹1,650 crore.
To replace Iyengar, upGrad has brought in Arushee Agarwal, formerly the head of Coursera’s B2B business in India, to lead the vertical with a greater focus on AI-led products and international markets such as the Middle East and North Africa.
Separately, this person said Tarakkad helped streamline accounting, subsidiary oversight, shareholder management, governance and compliance, though the company wanted the finance function to be more closely tied to the operating business.
“A replacement chief financial officer is expected to join within the next 60 days,” the person added.
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 organisation focused on outcomes and execution, the person said.
In workforce upskilling, upGrad competes with rivals such as Simplilearn, Emeritus, Coursera and Newton School, while also facing competition from online offerings of universities and institutes targeting working professionals. The segment is large and still expanding. According to a recent report by market research firm IMARC Group, India’s corporate training market reached $12.2 billion in 2025.
