The opportunity
Engineering education and test-prep had high-intent learner segments, but each category required a distinct academic proposition, educator ecosystem, operating model, and monetisation plan.
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Unacademy · Category building
Building learning categories through hyper-growth.
A hands-on operating chapter spanning Unacademy’s journey from Series B to Series F: build categories, hire and lead teams, run experiments, and turn learner demand into a scalable subscription business.
Series B → Fcompany journey
5major category groups
~50% MoMGATE revenue growth after launch
What I built
Engineering Curriculum, GATE, and ESE during the growth phase; then GATE, CA Exams, and Law Exams subscription businesses in the revenue phase. I also owned IELTS/TOEFL and GRE/GMAT portfolios.
How I operated
The work covered category strategy, team hiring, operations, academics, growth, and business ownership. It required rapid experimentation and direct engagement with learners, educators, and the internal production ecosystem.
Community as a growth lever
Chamomile Tea with Toppers was one illustrative format: sourcing high-ranking engineering-exam performers for learner content and category marketing, with end-to-end production scheduled by the YouTube team.
Category portfolio
From learner intent to category, team, and subscription business.
Each category combined a learner proposition, educator supply, academic operations, distribution, and monetisation. The work spanned building new categories and scaling commercial launches through a hyper-growth phase.
GATE & ESE
Built and scaled engineering-exam categories through curriculum, educator, learner, and growth ownership.
~50% MoM growthGATE, CA & Law
Launched paid category propositions during the revenue phase with clear business and operating ownership.
3 launchesIELTS/TOEFL & GRE/GMAT
Owned international-test-prep portfolios across category strategy, learner needs, educator supply, and business execution.
2 portfoliosChamomile Tea with Toppers
Sourced high-ranking performers for category marketing and learner content, with the YouTube team managing production logistics.
Content-led trust