upGrad acquires 90% stake in Internshala, doubles down on employability strategy

Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad has acquired a 90% stake in internship and early-career hiring platform Internshala in a stock transaction, as the edtech major sharpens its focus on outcome-led growth in a consolidating sector.

Financial details were not officially disclosed. However, the company said the deal values Gurugram-based Internshala at around ₹100 crore.

The acquisition is designed to integrate internship discovery, job access, and structured skilling into a single pipeline. For upGrad, which has built its brand around online degrees, certifications, and enterprise skilling, the move plugs a crucial gap at the entry stage of the career lifecycle—where students first seek work exposure.

“For over a decade, Internshala has addressed a key access challenge for employers unable to rely on costly agencies or campus hiring. However, the employability gap persists. By combining our skilling depth with Internshala’s reach, we aim to move beyond job connections to ensure candidates are truly job-ready. This acquisition strengthens our ability to build an outcome-driven talent engine for both learners and employers,” said Chirag Samdaria, Head – Corporate Strategy and Growth at upGrad.

Internshala, founded in 2010, has built a large early-career marketplace with over 34 million registered users. The platform sees roughly 3 million active applicants annually, with more than 40% of its users coming from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, an increasingly important segment as hiring decentralises beyond metros.

From enrolments to outcomes

At a time when India’s edtech sector is recalibrating toward profitability and measurable outcomes, the deal signals upGrad’s intent to strengthen its value proposition beyond learning content. By enabling its learners to directly access internships and job listings on Internshala, upGrad is betting that employability—not just enrolment growth—will define the next phase of expansion.

Currently, Internshala operates at a revenue base of around ₹45 crore. upGrad plans to invest in product upgrades, AI-led talent matching, and enterprise hiring solutions, targeting revenue of ₹100 crore and higher over the next 18–24 months.

“Education and employment in India have operated in silos for too long. This acquisition allows us to strengthen the earliest layer of the career journey and bridge work opportunities with structured skilling,” said Chirag Samdaria.

Internshala will continue as an independent brand under founder and CEO Sarvesh Agrawal, while leveraging upGrad’s technology infrastructure and enterprise relationships. The company is expected to pivot towards a more enterprise-led model, working closely with companies’ learning, and development teams and offering pre-skilled candidates at scale.

Calling it a “natural partnership where learning meets opportunity,” Agrawal said the collaboration would help scale impact, skill more candidates and offer job-ready talent to companies, positioning the combined platform as a launchpad for graduates.

Investec acted as exclusive financial advisor to Internshala.

A broader acquisition push

The transaction comes amid an active deal-making phase for upGrad. The company had earlier submitted an expression of interest to bid for Think & Learn, the insolvent parent of edtech firm Byju’s, and evaluated test-prep platform Unacademy before talks fell through over valuation differences.

Unlike some of its peers that expanded aggressively during the funding boom, upGrad has positioned itself around structured programmes and university partnerships. The Internshala acquisition extends that thesis into the hiring layer, potentially allowing the company to capture users earlier in their professional journeys and retain them through successive upskilling cycles.

As funding tightens and investor scrutiny sharpens, India’s edtech firms are under pressure to demonstrate sustainable business models. By combining learning with direct access to employment opportunities, upGrad is attempting to build a more integrated skilling-to-jobs engine—one that could offer steadier revenue visibility in a sector still navigating its post-boom reset.