Recently, there was a lot of buzz around- “Will Allen acquire Unacademy?” Well, not really because recently Unacademy’s CEO has denied all the rumors. Gaurav Munjal (CEO) said that Unacademy is not considering any mergers or acquisitions. Despite that, the folks are curious about Allen vs Unacademy!
So, let’s have a detailed breakdown of both coaching giants to determine who is thriving in the market!
A Quick Comparison
If you have been preparing for any competitive exam, I’m sure that you must have heard the names- Allen, Unacademy, Byju’s, etc. Both of them offer online and offline learning solutions to millions of students. But they have distinguished themselves in various aspects.
Here’s how-
| Characteristic Features | Allen | Unacademy |
| Founder(s) | Shri Rajesh Maheshwari | Roman Saini; Gaurav Munjal; Hemesh Singh |
| Founding Year | 1988 | 2015 |
| Tagline | “Whatever is your aim, ALLEN takes you there” | “Let’s crack it.” |
| Courses Offered | Pre-Nurture & Career Foundation (PNCF) for classes 6-10; Commerce; JEE (Main+Advanced); Neet UG; K-CET/COMED-K + BOARD | Competitive exams courses- JEE, NEET, UPSC, SSC, Banking, TET, CAT (major), Comprehensive courses (minor) |
| Physical Presence | Operates over 285 classroom campuses and 400 test centers across India | Recently opened offline centers in Kota and plans to expand nationwide |
| Target Age Group of Students | Younger Students | Older Students; Aspirants of competitive exams |
| Teaching Methodology | Online Classes, Offline Classes; Hybrid Classes; Online Support | Online live classes, Live quizzes, Practice assignments, Doubt clearing sessions, and Direct interaction with educators |
| Faculty Compensation | Competitive but reportedly lower than Unacademy | Attracts top faculty with significantly higher compensation packages |
| Market Strategy | Focuses on maintaining its traditional coaching model while expanding digitally | Aggressively pursues market share through teacher poaching and expanding physical locations |
| Free Trial | Available for courses- 11th JEE; Allent NExT (for NEET PG students) | 7-Day Free Trial for paid courses; Free classes; Playlists |
| Scholarship | ADSAT (Allen Digital Scholarship Admission Test) | UNSAT (Unacademy National Eligibility and Scholarship Test); UST (Unacademy Scholarship Test); LEAP (for Lovely Professional Unversity students); Unacademy Prodigy; Mega Scholarship test for UPSC, CDS, AFCAT, and CAPF |
| Payment Type | EMI plan with 10 equal monthly installment payments; Post-dated Cheque | Monthly Fees, Yearly Payment |
| Desktop & Mobile Platforms | ALLEN Digital App; Distance Learning Program (DLP) | Unacademy App; Unacademy Web |
Both of them have similar business models. However, you must note that Allen focuses more on conventional education and Unacademy uses modern ways. That’s how they initiated their coaching classes.
As of now, both of them offer online and offline classes. Lately, Allen started offering online classes and Unacademy has opened an institute in Kota.
Another key difference is the courses they offer. Allen is famous for preparing for undergraduate competitive exams like JEE, NEET, etc.
On the other hand, Unacademy offers a broad range of courses starting from JEE, and NEET to UPSC, CAT, CDS, etc.
We haven’t disclosed the fee structure here because it varies depending on the courses.
Comparison Based on Position in the Market
Now, let’s see how they are doing in the market. In this section, we will compare their financials for the fiscal year 2024. Here we go-
| Aspects (FY24) | Allen | Unacademy |
| Market Valuation | Rs.13,519 crore | Rs.6,800 crore ($800 million) |
| Revenue Generated | Rs.3,473 crore | Rs.840 crore |
| Revenue Streams | Sale of Services; Sale of Products, etc. | Sale of Services; Traded Goods; Advertising Revenue |
| Profit/Loss | Profit of Rs.135.92 crore | Loss of Rs.631 crore |
| Expenses | Rs.3,252 crore | Rs.1,627 crore |
| EBITDA | Rs.629.8 crore | Rs.489 crore |
| Margins | Declined to 18.13% | N/A |
| ROCE (Returns on Capital Employed) | Declined from 9.26% to 14.7% in the previous year | N/A |
| Total Assets | Increased by 10.8% to Rs.5,759 crore | N/A |
| Cash & Bank Balances | Increased by 19.8% to Rs.1,958 crore | Rs.1,573 crore |
| Current Assets | Increased by 8.2% to Rs.2,795 crore | N/A |
| Capital Employed | Increased to 15.9% to Rs.3,630 crore | N/A |
As you can see from the table, Allen is a clear winner! Allen is far ahead of Unacademy in all the financial aspects. Most importantly Allen is profitable and Unacademy is drowning in losses.
Investors: Allen vs Unacademy
Both the institutes are privately owned entities. Hence, it is important to look at their key investors.
Investors of Allen Career Institute
The key investor of Allen is Bodhi Tree System. It is led by Uday Shankar, the ice-chairman of JioStar. Rajesh Maheshwari is the founder and director of Allen Career Institute.
Other promoters are-
- Aman Maheshwari
- Aviral Maheshwari
- Anand Maheshwari
- Keshav Maheshwari
- Govind Maheshwari
- Naveen Maheshwari
- Brajesh Maheswari
- Nitin Kukreja
- Tarn Kumar Jain
- Prateek Garg
Investors of Unacademy
- SoftBank Vision Fund: Invested in Unacademy in 2020, helping the company achieve unicorn status.
- Tiger Global Management and Dragoneer Investment Group: Invested in Unacademy in 2020, helping the company reach a valuation of $2 billion.
- Temasek: Led a Series H funding round in 2021, with participation from other investors.
- Arora Ventures: Participated in the Series H funding round in 2021
- Deepinder Goyal: Participated in the Series H funding round in 2021
- SAIF Partners
- Sequoia Capital India
- Nexus Ventures
- Blume Ventures
- Chan Zuckerberg Facebook: Invested in Unacademy, making it the second company in India to receive a direct investment from the company.
Note: We have also compared a few more educational institutions viz.-
- Byjus vs Unacademy: The Clash of Indian Edtech Titans
- PhysicsWallah vs Unacademy: Which one is doing better?
Verdict
Here comes the most important part of the article. Who is the winner in the battle of Allen vs Unacademy? Well, for this year, the winner is Allen. Reason? Profits, market valuation, and all the financial aspects. Moreover, Unacademy is still struggling through its losses.
Apart from all these aspects, it depends on the students’ preferences in terms of courses and the method of teaching.
By the way, have you taken coaching from any of these institutes? If yes, then don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section!
Thanks for reading 🙂
