upGrad Acquires Internshala To Control Career Entry Layer

The acquisition of upGrad by bringing early-talent marketplace Internshala's entry into its ecosystem points to a structural shift in India’s skilling market: platforms are no longer competing on courses; they are competing on outcomes.

Announced in Mumbai on February 26, the deal, structured as a 90% stock swap for an undisclosed amount, connects education, skilling, internships, and employment within one operating layer. The move reflects a growing industry focus on owning the career entry point rather than just the learning journey.

Founded in 2010, Internshala has built a community of more than 34 million registered users and 450,000 employers, with around 3 million active applicants annually. The platform draws a large share of traffic organically and reaches students across India, including over 40% from Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, a segment increasingly central to India’s talent pipeline story.

The acquisition highlights a deeper strategy: controlling the earliest point of employability.

By integrating internship discovery with structured skilling pathways, the combined platform aims to shorten the distance between learning and hiring. The model focuses on helping students move from skill acquisition to real work exposure and then into full-time roles.

Chirag Samdaria, Head – Corporate Strategy & Growth, upGrad, said, “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 – where intent is highest and outcomes can be meaningful. By bridging work opportunities with structured skilling, we are building a more aligned talent ecosystem for both learners and employers.”

Why Internships Are Becoming Infrastructure

Internships are increasingly acting as a verification layer for skills. Employers are using project exposure as a signal of readiness, while learners see internships as the fastest path to employment.

Internshala’s scale, particularly its reach into non-metro student populations, gives upGrad access to a high-intent audience earlier in their career lifecycle. This positions internships not as a feature but as infrastructure inside digital skilling ecosystems.

Internshala will continue operating as an independent brand under Sarvesh Agrawal, Founder & CEO, Internshala, while leveraging upGrad’s technology, learning ecosystem, and enterprise network.

Sarvesh Agrawal said, “This is a very natural partnership where learning meets opportunity. " In the last 15 years, Internshala has democratised career starts for students. Joining hands with upGrad will allow us to amplify our impact by skilling millions of candidates, offer pre-trained talent to companies at scale, and together become the default launchpad for every graduate's career."

Beyond scale, the deal reflects a broader platform strategy and access to hiring signals.

Internship behaviour provides data on skill readiness, employer demand, salary expectations, and role transitions. Integrating these signals into learning platforms enables more targeted programme design, AI-led talent matching, and enterprise hiring workflows.

upGrad plans to invest further in product development, AI-driven matching, and enterprise hiring models, targeting growth of Internshala’s ₹45 crore revenue base to ₹100 crore and beyond.

This acquisition signals a move from course marketplaces to career infrastructure platforms.

Instead of competing on catalogue depth, platforms are positioning themselves around measurable employability outcomes, internships, project work, and job placement pathways.

Investec acted as exclusive financial advisor to Internshala.

For the broader skilling ecosystem, the message is clear: the next phase of growth will be defined by who owns the transition from learning to the first job, not just the classroom.