PhysicsWallah, an EdTech platform for engineering and medical entrance exams, announced that it has raised $100 million (around INR 777 crore) in its Series A funding round led by UK-based Westbridge and GSV Ventures, a global VC fund focused on digital education.
With this development, the Noida-based startup has become India’s 101st unicorn and the first EdTech player this year to touch the coveted unicorn (valuation of $1.1 billion) club, according to a press statement.
The fresh capital will be utilized for business expansion, branding, opening more offline learning centres, and introducing more course offerings.
Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah provides affordable and comprehensive learning experience to students of classes 6 to 12 and those preparing for JEE and NEET exams. The platform also offers extensive NCERT solutions, sample papers, NEET, JEE Mains, BITSAT previous year papers, which makes them a one-stop solution for all resources. It successfully provides students with intensive courses by India’s top faculties and personal mentors.
PhysicsWallah’s main focus is to make the learning experience as economical as possible for all students. With its affordable courses like Lakshya, Udaan and Arjuna and many others, the firm has been able to provide a platform for lakhs of aspirants. From providing Chemistry, Maths, Physics formula to giving e-books of eminent authors like RD Sharma, RS Aggarwal and Lakhmir Singh, PW focuses on every single student’s need for preparation.
Speaking about the fundraise, Founder and CEO of PhysicsWallah, Alakh Pandey, said:
“This latest development will help us further our vision and implement new initiatives to augment the journeys of students, enabling them to reach new heights in their careers. Our commitment remains ‘every dollar spent in PW is for the greater good of learners’.”
Pandey further added:
“PW has been profitable since its inception and has positive cash flows and reserves. In FY22, the startup’s revenue rose nine-fold, claimed Alakh. The current run rate for FY23 is $65 million.”
PhsyicsWallah strives to make the learning experience comprehensive and accessible for students of all sections of society. The company believes in empowering every single student who couldn’t dream of a good career in engineering and medical field earlier.
The EdTech platform specialises in giving comprehensive lectures and sessions on YouTube as well as distributes it through its proprietary PhysicsWallah app and the website for students aspiring to take National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) mains. Besides YouTube and applications, it also runs 20 offline centers across 16 cities.
Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital has said in a statement:
“The Indian edtech ecosystem has grown considerably over the last two years; however, recent developments have demonstrated the first-hand importance of an efficient edtech Infrastructure. PW creates long-tail value for learners by delivering high-quality education at a democratic price. PW is one of the rare startups with an understanding of the education that today’s India needs. The founder’s focus on learning outcomes of students excites us and we look forward to a long partnership with them.”
The startup currently has 1,900 employees, including 500 teachers and 90-100 tech experts. It also has 200 associate professors available to answer student queries and another 200 professionals to create exam questions and term papers. On the Google Play Store, the PW app has 5.2 million downloads, while the YouTube channel has 6.9 million subscribers.
PhysicsWallah is also planning to launch educational content in nine vernacular languages, including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Odia, Malayalam, and Kannada. The core idea behind this is to reach every corner of the country and connect with 250 million students by 2025.
