Unacademy completes acquisition of CodeChef

Unacademy has announced the acquisition of CodeChef. The acquisition is to help Unacademy launch coding skills vertical for school kids. Though it is not clear how CodeChef will be positioned as it was not for a profit venture under its previous owner – Directi. 

Gaurav Munjal, co-founder, and CEO of Unacademy, tweeted, “Codechef is one of the best platforms in the world for programmers and their vision is aligned to what we do here at Unacademy Group.”

CodeChef is an eleven-year-old platform that helps programmers get a foothold in computer programming through active participation via contests. The Mumbai-based company claims to have grown to over 10 lakh programmers globally. 

Anup Kalbalia, Chief Executive Officer of CodeChef, says, “All our existing programs, contests, etc. will continue to remain exactly as they are, and will only grow better in our new home. This change in custodianship will mean that we have access to greater resources, teams, technology, platforms, and capital.”

CodeChef has appointed Sujeet Kumar as a board member. It’s worth noting that Directi and CodeChef’s founder, Bhavin Turakhia, is already a member of the board of directors of Unacademy since 2017. 

CodeChef is the second acquisition by Unacademy in 2020. In March, it acquired Kreatryx, an online preparation platform for GATE and the Engineering Services Exam (ESE), in a cash plus stock deal.