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Roman Saini is an educator, an entrepreneur, an Ex- IAS officer, a doctor, and a motivational speaker. He is the co-founder of “Unacademy,” an education initiative that provides online (free and paid) educational content for competitive exams.
Biography/Wiki
Roman Saini was born on 27 July 1991 (age 32 years; as of 2023) in Raikaranpura Village, Kotputli Town, Jaipur, Rajasthan. He was born into a middle-class, academically sound family that helped him to excel at his studies.
After completing his schooling, he appeared for the AIIMS entrance examination and became the youngest person to crack the examination at the age of 16. Roman went to AIIMS to pursue his MBBS.
Roman Saini with his brother in childhood
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5’ 9”
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Roman belongs to the Mali community (OBC) of a Hindu Family. His father is an engineer and mother is a homemaker. Roman’s brother, Avesh Saini, is a pediatrician and his sister, Ayushee Saini, is a medical student.
Roman Saini with his parents and brother
Roman Saini’s sister, Ayushee Saini
Career
Roman started his career as a junior resident doctor at AIIMS. While serving as a resident doctor, Roman visited medical camps at various poverty-ridden areas of India, where he saw people struggling even for the basic amenities. It was then, that he decided to go for the civil services in order to contribute to society at a larger scale.
Roman Saini as the junior resident doctor at AIIMS
When he was in his second year of the MBBS program, one of his friends, Gaurav Munjal, approached him with an idea to start up an educational portal. Roman joined hands with Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Sachin Gupta to start- “Unacademy,” an educational venture that went on to become a popular educational portal amongst the students preparing for competitive exams, especially for UPSC aspirants.
Roman Saini with the co-founders of Unacademy
At the age of 22, Roman cleared the Civil Service Examination in his first attempt and secured the AIR 18. He was one of the youngest aspirants in India to clear the examination. After completing his training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, he joined as the Assistant Collector at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. In 2016, Saini resigned from his post of the Assistant Collector to devote more time to his initiative, “Unacademy.”
Roman Saini during his training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie
Roman Saini As The Assistant Collector of Jabalpur
Roman along with his team (comprising of civil servants, teachers, engineers, doctors, and experts of other fields), started to build their Unacademy’s YouTube channel, by uploading study materials relating to medicine, IT, civil services, and foreign languages. Soon, after its launch, the videos started getting millions of views. Not just this, it was stated that more than 10 subscribers of the channel cleared the civil services examinations by following the tips given on the channel.
Net Worth
Roman has a net worth of $17.6 million (Unacademy’s).
Favourite Things
Sports: Cricket
Cricketers: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers
Chess Player: Magnus Carlsen
Music Band: Pink Floyd
Singer(s): Babul Supriyo, Atif Aslam, Arijit Singh
Musician(s): David Gilmour, Led Zeppelin, Ani DiFranco
Facts
- His hobbies include playing the guitar, puzzle-solving, travelling, and listening to music.
Roman Saini playing guitar
- Surprisingly, Roman did not attend any coaching institute to prepare for the UPSC exam. He only consulted the Vajiram material and test series. He chose Medical Sciences as his optional subject.
- Roman is an anti-social person. He hates attending social functions.
- His circle of friends and relatives consider him weird as he lives in his own world.
- Initially, Roman was an average student who had no interest in studies. His interest in the subject matter of biology led him to sit for the medical entrance exam and clear it.
- When asked in an interview about his multiple career swings, Roman said, ” I believe we can achieve anything if we really want it. For me, there were no external benchmarks to conquer. I have done everything that I really enjoyed doing. I play the guitar as I love music, not because I aspire to go to Trinity College in England. Medicals, civil services, to now giving back to millions of UPSC aspirants (online content)- all these have stemmed from the internal drive.”