What the business is
Cohesive AI, run by Indian edtech group Unacademy, offers text generation for sales, marketing, support and personal communication.
The bet
A free generative-AI writing and templates tool can win users at scale where Cohesive's dev tool and SaaS marketplace did not.
How it started
Cohesive began as a software development environment for product teams to test and deploy code, then in February 2023 turned into a SaaS marketplace of small tools built by third parties and individuals.
What happened
Cohesive's website was overhauled on 1 April 2023 into Cohesive AI, with an AI-powered editor, templates powered by generative AI and an AI-based tool called Inspiration that generates prompts. Singh said it would serve sales, marketing, support and personal communication, and that the unit had formally joined Unacademy Group.
How it ended up
Cohesive AI launched free to businesses and individuals two weeks after Unacademy cut another 12% of staff, with no stated monetisation plan. Singh claimed over 10,000 users in its first two weeks.
What has to be true
Unacademy was cutting costs to stretch its runway and show investors a path to profitability, after FY22 losses of INR 2,848 Cr.
Generative AI was booming after ChatGPT and GPT-4, which Inc42 said made the jump unsurprising.
A free AI content tool had low overhead compared with the resources an edtech pivot would require.
What can be applied
Pivoting a side project three times in a year shows a search for traction rather than a plan; without a monetisation model, a free AI tool is a user count, not a business.
Aftermath
As of 11 April 2023, Cohesive AI was live and free, Singh claimed over 10,000 users, and Inc42 noted it lacked a privacy policy or terms of use and had no stated way to earn money.
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