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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Unacademy co-founders may step back, refocus on new edtech venture Airlearn
Unacademy's top brass is preparing for a leadership reshuffle, with co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini expected to step back from day-to-day operations in the coming two to three months, according to people familiar with the matter. The pair is reportedly engaged in high-level talks with the company's board and key investors to carve out Airlearn—the edtech firm's language learning platform—into an independent entity. The third co-founder, Hemesh Singh, stepped down in June 2024. The trio had originally launched Unacademy nearly a decade ago, starting out as a YouTube channel before evolving into one of India's leading edtech platforms. Sumit Jain, founder of Graphy and elevated to partner at Unacademy following Hemesh Singh's departure last year, is poised to take charge of the company's offline operations, according to people familiar with the transition. At the same time, Unacademy is in the final stages of appointing new leadership to oversee its core online education business, according to the sources. An email query to Unacademy remained unanswered till press time. Jain joined Unacademy in 2020 following the acquisition of his startup Opentalk. In 2023, Unacademy promoted Jain, head of its Graphy division, to the role of partner—a designation internally likened to a late-stage co-founder. Jain co-founded Graphy, a platform that enables educators and content creators to build and sell their own online courses. Before his tenure at Unacademy, Jain co-founded real estate portal CommonFloor in 2007 and served as its chief executive officer. It was later acquired by classifieds platform Quikr in 2016. Notably, CommonFloor had earlier acquired an accommodation platform founded by Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal, in 2015. specialised in helping students and young professionals find housing in new cities. Munjal and Saini plan to devote their efforts to scaling Airlearn, Unacademy's language learning venture, which positions itself as a competitor to Duolingo, according to the sources. As of April, the app had attracted 70,000 daily active users and nearly 300,000 monthly users, according to a company update shared by Munjal on social media. Of those, 17,500 are paying subscribers, contributing to an annual recurring revenue of $2 million. The majority of Airlearn's user base hails from the US, UK, and Germany. Over the past year, users have completed more than 20 million lessons on the platform. The app currently offers 13 language courses, with English-to-Spanish, English-to-French, and English-to-Korean emerging as the most in demand. Unacademy's board includes representatives from global investors SoftBank and General Atlantic, as well as prominent entrepreneurs Bhavin Turakhia of Zeta and Sujeet Kumar of Udaan, alongside co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini. The edtech company has secured approximately $880 million in total funding, according to data provider Tracxn. In 2021, it raised $440 million in a funding round led by Temasek, with super pro-rata participation from General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and SoftBank Vision Fund, taking the company's valuation to $3.44 billion. The three original co-founders collectively retain a roughly 15 per cent stake in the company. Unacademy recorded Rs 988.4 crore in total revenue during FY24, a 5.33 per cent decline compared to Rs 1,044 crore in FY23, according to Entrackr. However, the SoftBank-backed firm cut its losses by 62 per cent, reducing them to Rs 631 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2024 from Rs 1,678 crore in FY23. Munjal recently claimed that Unacademy has reduced its cash burn in the core business from over Rs 1,000 crore annually three years ago to under Rs 200 crore this calendar year. He added that Unacademy has Rs 1,200 crore in the bank and is financially stable. Some of its businesses, like Graphy and PrepLadder, are making money every month.
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
‘I am a hitman': Hamilton murder trial hears Google Translate history shows pattern of ‘boasting' by accused killer
Alessandro Giammichele repeatedly claimed he was a former member of the Italian military special forces. He said he owned a Ferrari — and got a Ferrari jacket from the owner of the company. And he claimed to own 33 per cent of the casinos in the Dominican Republic. Those claims were among the many phrases he entered into Google Translate while he was in the Dominican Republic in early 2019, a jury saw Friday at the John Sopinka Courthouse. Staff Sgt. Rich Wouters of the Hamilton police, under cross-examination from defence lawyer Kendra Stanyon, testified the translation history shows a pattern of Giammichele 'boasting about himself' to show off to other people — including women. 'He says anything to pick someone up,' Wouters said. The jury previously saw Giammichele's English-to-Spanish Google Translate search history included phrases such as 'I am a hitman' and 'How I deal with things usually ends up with people dead.' Marko Bakir, 31, was shot five times in the driveway of his west Mountain home around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2018. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Giammichele is charged with first-degree murder in Bakir's killing. He has pleaded not guilty. Assistant Crown attorney Elise Quinn previously told the jury of eight men and four women that while Giammichele didn't physically pull the trigger, he played a 'fundamental role' in the killing. Quinn said the alleged 'hitman' who shot Bakir five times was Abdelaziz Ibrahim, who is now dead. In 2018, Bakir, who had recently been awarded a $362,000 settlement following a motorcycle crash, lent Giammichele $100,000 to invest, Quinn previously told the jury. The loan came with a contract and repayment schedule — but Giammichele didn't pay it back. During cross-examination, Wouters said text messages from Giammichele's phone show he didn't want to stay in the same place for 'more than two sleeps' in late 2018 before he left Canada for the Caribbean nation. The jury also saw information from Giammichele's translation history where he claimed $150,000 was 'not even one per cent' of his wealth — something Wouters said is not the case, unless Giammichele had funds in cash or a secret bank account. However, the court also saw translations indicating Giammichele owed people money in the Dominican Republic — and claimed to have his accounts frozen in Canada by police, which is why he couldn't pay. Wouters said police did not freeze his accounts. Earlier Friday, the jury saw bank records indicating that despite receiving the $362,000 settlement in August 2018, when Bakir was killed in November of the same year, he had a negative balance in his bank account. Bakir's bank records showed he previously withdrew amounts of $150,000, $100,000 and $91,000 in September 2018. The court previously heard Bakir used $150,00 for a down payment on a house, $91,000 on a Lamborghini — and provided $100,000 to Giammichele to invest. The jury previously saw text messages between Bakir and Giammichele indicating Bakir needed the money owed to him by Giammichele. Around the time of Bakir's death, the jury heard, Giammichele's bank accounts had very little money in them — in one case negative funds, and in another less than $15. However, bank documents showed Giammichele received more than $100,000 from his mother's estate between December 2018 and January 2019. The trial continues Monday.
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Accused ‘boasting' in Google Translate history, jury hears in murder trial
Alessandro Giammichele repeatedly claimed he was a former member of the Italian military special forces. He said he owned a Ferrari — and got a Ferrari jacket from the owner of the company. And he claimed to own 33 per cent of the casinos in the Dominican Republic. Those claims were among the many phrases he entered into Google Translate while he was in the Dominican Republic in early 2019, a jury saw Friday at the John Sopinka Courthouse. Staff Sgt. Rich Wouters of the Hamilton police, under cross-examination from defence lawyer Kendra Stanyon, testified the translation history shows a pattern of Giammichele 'boasting about himself' to show off to other people — including women. 'He says anything to pick someone up,' Wouters said. The jury previously saw Giammichele's English-to-Spanish Google Translate search history included phrases such as 'I am a hitman' and 'How I deal with things usually ends up with people dead.' Marko Bakir, 31, was shot five times in the driveway of his west Mountain home around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2018. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Giammichele is charged with first-degree murder in Bakir's killing. He has pleaded not guilty. Assistant Crown attorney Elise Quinn previously told the jury of eight men and four women that while Giammichele didn't physically pull the trigger, he played a 'fundamental role' in the killing. Quinn said the alleged 'hitman' who shot Bakir five times was Abdelaziz Ibrahim, who is now dead. In 2018, Bakir, who had recently been awarded a $362,000 settlement following a motorcycle crash, lent Giammichele $100,000 to invest, Quinn previously told the jury. The loan came with a contract and repayment schedule — but Giammichele didn't pay it back. During cross-examination, Wouters said text messages from Giammichele's phone show he didn't want to stay in the same place for 'more than two sleeps' in late 2018 before he left Canada for the Caribbean nation. The jury also saw information from Giammichele's translation history where he claimed $150,000 was 'not even one per cent' of his wealth — something Wouters said is not the case, unless Giammichele had funds in cash or a secret bank account. However, the court also saw translations indicating Giammichele owed people money in the Dominican Republic — and claimed to have his accounts frozen in Canada by police, which is why he couldn't pay. Wouters said police did not freeze his accounts. Earlier Friday, the jury saw bank records indicating that despite receiving the $362,000 settlement in August 2018, when Bakir was killed in November of the same year, he had a negative balance in his bank account. Bakir's bank records showed he previously withdrew amounts of $150,000, $100,000 and $91,000 in September 2018. The court previously heard Bakir used $150,00 for a down payment on a house, $91,000 on a Lamborghini — and provided $100,000 to Giammichele to invest. The jury previously saw text messages between Bakir and Giammichele indicating Bakir needed the money owed to him by Giammichele. Around the time of Bakir's death, the jury heard, Giammichele's bank accounts had very little money in them — in one case negative funds, and in another less than $15. However, bank documents showed Giammichele received more than $100,000 from his mother's estate between December 2018 and January 2019. The trial continues Monday.
Hamilton Spectator
09-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
‘I am a hitman': Jury sees accused's Google Translate history in murder trial
'I am a hitman.' That is one of the phrases in Alessandro Giammichele's English-to-Spanish Google Translate search history while he was in the Dominican Republic in early 2019, a jury heard Thursday at the John Sopinka Courthouse. Staff Sgt. Rich Wouters of the Hamilton police told the jury that Giammichele's phone history also included translation data saying, 'How I deal with things usually ends up with people dead.' In addition, Wouters testified Giammichele's phone included translation history that said he 'did a lot of bad things' and 'took care of a big problem' in Canada — and that he was in the Dominican Republic 'hiding out and planning my revenge.' 'I enjoy hurting people,' another translation search read. 'I'm very good at it.' Marko Bakir, 31, was shot five times in the driveway of his west Mountain home around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2018. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Giammichele is charged with first-degree murder in Bakir's killing. He has pleaded not guilty. Assistant Crown attorney Elise Quinn previously told the jury of eight men and four women that while Giammichele didn't physically pull the trigger, he played a 'fundamental role' in the killing. Quinn said the alleged 'hitman' who shot Bakir five times was Abdelaziz Ibrahim, who is now dead. In 2018, Bakir, who had recently been awarded a $350,000 settlement following a motorcycle crash, lent Giammichele $100,000 to invest, Quinn previously told the jury. The loan came with a contract and repayment schedule — but Giammichele didn't pay it back. Wouters, the primary investigator on the case for 19 months, testified he arrested Giammichele for murder and seized his phone at Pearson International Airport when he returned to Canada from the Dominican Republic on May 10, 2019. Wouters said police recovered data from the phone that showed Giammichele's Google account signed into the phone on Nov. 22 at 10:19 p.m. — a little over two hours after Bakir's murder. The court saw text messages from the seized phone in late November 2018 which said the phone was Giammichele's new number. The jury was also shown surveillance video from Pearson International Airport on Dec. 4, 2018 — less than two weeks after Bakir was murdered — which Wouters said showed Giammichele going through customs before leaving for the Caribbean nation. Wouters testified the Google search history recovered from the phone shows numerous searches for 'Hamilton Mountain shooting' and related topics. In addition, text messages and search history data show Giammichele was researching flights to the Dominican Republic in the days following the murder. He said Giammichele's phone also included translation searches saying he bought and sold 'kilograms' of cocaine and that he had a 'mafia and hitman life' and was a 'very powerful businessman.' In other testimony, Wouters told the jury that police executed search warrants on March 28, 2019, at addresses on Hendershot Road in Hamilton and Thames Street South in Ingersoll related to Vlad Sulug. A phone number associated with Sulug was identified as a contact 'Zio' in Giammichele's phone, he added. While police were executing the search warrants, Wouters said call data from Giammichele's phone shows numerous calls to Sulug — including five in a 15-minute span. A red Ford F-150 pickup truck was also seized by police from Sulug. When searched, Wouters said police found a receipt from Nov. 30, 2018, with Giammichele's name and address on it in the driver's door. Quinn previously told the court the accused drove a red Ford F-150 pickup truck at the time — and the truck was captured on surveillance footage from two different cameras in Bakir's neighbourhood. When asked by Quinn, Wouters said there was 'no reason to believe' a second person was involved in Bakir's killing early in the investigation. After viewing surveillance footage of a man running in Bakir's neighbourhood minutes after the shooting, Wouters said the individual does not 'appear to match' Giammichele's description. He added he never heard Ibrahim's name during his time in the investigation. The trial continues Friday.
