Info Edge's Full-Ownership Playbook: What Coding Ninjas Reveals About Edtech's Endgame

Info Edge has completed a ₹39.91 crore buyout of the remaining 45.36% stake in Coding Ninjas after its board approved the transaction on July 6, converting a long-held investment into full ownership. The payment is structured with 25% payable at closing and the balance spread across three annual instalments through 2029, allowing Info Edge to assume control without a large upfront cash outlay. Info Edge first backed Coding Ninjas in a Series A round in 2020 and increased its holding to a majority in 2022 before closing the final minority buyout this month.

"The sector itself has not seen enough real product innovation in recent years," wrote Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal when reflecting on consolidation across Indian edtech — a remark that helps frame why strategic ownership choices now vary widely across the industry.

The Coding Ninjas transaction is the fourth time in six years that Info Edge has converted an external bet into a wholly owned subsidiary. Earlier examples include Zwayam, acquired outright in 2021 for roughly ₹61 crore (about $8.3 million), DoSelect (operated by Axilly Labs) folded in the same year, and Highorbit Careers — parent of iimjobs and Hirist — acquired in FY2019-20. Those deals typically targeted adjacent capabilities to Naukri.com's core recruitment business and, in some cases, were executed as immediate 100% buyouts.

Coding Ninjas, by contrast, followed a step-up path: initial minority investment in 2020, majority stake in 2022, then the deferred-payment buyout this year. The company’s underlying performance helps explain why Info Edge chose a staged conversion rather than an urgent rescue. Coding Ninjas' revenue rose from roughly ₹53 crore in FY24 to about ₹67 crore in FY25 and nearly ₹97 crore in FY26, while losses narrowed over the same period — metrics consistent with a business on an improving trajectory rather than a distressed asset.

This situtation stands alongside other recent, high-profile calibrations in Indian edtech. upGrad’s all-stock acquisition of Unacademy — a deal announced earlier in 2026 valued at ₹2,055 crore in regulatory filings — came after Unacademy’s valuation had plunged from a 2021 peak of $3.5 billion to under $500 million and following disclosures of roughly $100 million in cash reserves. Gaurav Munjal openly conceded that Unacademy had "lost some focus and market share." At the opposite end of outcomes, BYJU'S collapsed from a $22 billion peak into insolvency proceedings, with investors such as Prosus and BlackRock ultimately writing down their stakes to zero. A third path is represented by PhysicsWallah, which remained disciplined, turned profitable and listed publicly in November 2025 at a premium to its issue price.

The Coding Ninjas buyout illustrates a fourth, quieter exit: a founder-run business that is fundamentally sound but sub-scale converting into a wholly owned subsidiary on founder-friendly, deferred terms. For Info Edge, the strategic advantage is control — direct integration of Coding Ninjas’ course catalogue with Naukri’s broader upskilling initiatives — executed in a way that suits the parent’s balance sheet.

Outlook

• Info Edge’s playbook — using both immediate buyouts and staged conversions — provides a template for how portfolio companies might be absorbed as the edtech correction matures.
• More Info Edge-backed minority stakes could convert into full ownership on similar deferred terms as firms demonstrate improving unit economics.
• The broader edtech sector will likely continue to offer a spectrum of exits — from insolvency and share-swap rescues to quiet full ownership conversions and IPOs — depending on discipline, scale and product innovation.