upGrad appoints Saranjit Sangar as CEO-UK, Europe, Middle East

Edutech firm upGrad on Monday announced the appointment of former Amazon executive Saranjit Sangar as CEO for the UK, Europe, and the Middle East as it aims to garner $1 billion revenue from these markets in the next four to five years.

The company has been providing online courses in several overseas markets but this is the first time it has appointed an international CEO for a specific region.

"upGrad's international expansion is a multi-pronged strategy. I welcome Saranjit whose passion for tech and building a consumer business resonates with upGrad's vision of impacting a billion working professionals with lifelong learning," Co-founder and Chairman Ronnie Screwvala said in the statement.

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Sangar has worked across ecommerce (Amazon, UK), last-mile logistics (Amazon, UK, and Honestbee, Singapore), cloud kitchens (Grab, Singapore), and FMCG (Godrej, India).

She will take over her new role from October 1 and will be based out of London UK.

"As the first appointed international CEO, Saranjit will be driving the edtech major's $1 billion revenue goal from these markets in the next four to five years," the statement said.

On her new role, Saranjit Sangar said, “In my personal experience, I have immensely valued and benefited from my education, guidance from my mentors, and their advice on continuous learning and self-improvement. But I also understand that these invaluable resources are not widely accessible to everyone. I want to help create a level playing field for the aspiring youth and professionals by democratising education and making these resources available, to help them make the right choices through their careers."

"At upGrad, we will now be providing internationally, a) relevant programmes to prepare them for the future of the workforce b) immersive learning experience with real-life work simulations c) mentors and counsellors who are industry experts d) career services - matching the skills-sets of our students, and helping them achieve meaningful outcomes. And I am thrilled to be embarking on this mission with upGrad,” she further added.

It is also in process of appointing a CEO for Asia Pacific region, according to a statement.

"In line with our growth agenda to establish upGrad as the global leader in the Lifelong Learning space, we're setting up our subsidiaries in the international markets. We will soon announce the appointment of our CEO - APAC," Screwvala said.

The startup has a learner base of around five lakh, of which 32,000 are paid users. It expects to close the current fiscal year with a revenue of around $163 million.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context.)