Alakh Pandey-led PhysicsWallah raises $210 million in funding at a valuation of $2.8 billion

Alakh Pandey-led edtech unicorn Physics Wallah (PW) has secured $210 million in a Series B funding round, boosting its valuation to $2.8 billion—more than double the $1.1 billion it achieved in its previous Series A round.

Hornbill Capital led the funding, which was raised through a mix of primary and secondary transactions. Lightspeed Venture Partners, GSV, and WestBridge also participated.

Focused on scaling operations

The edtech giant will use the raised capital to scale operations, focusing on consolidating the education market.

The startup also plans to pursue inorganic expansion, enter the K-12 formal education segment, enhance its content and publication offerings, and explore mergers with community-driven education platforms across categories.

"This investment is not just a validation of our efforts to democratize education and make quality education accessible to every student in India, but also a testament to the impact we have created over the years. Prateek and I are excited to partner with Hornbill Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners in this journey, and we deeply appreciate the continued trust from WestBridge and GSV," said co-founder Alakh Pandey.

In June 2022, PhysicsWallah joined the unicorn startup club after raising $100 million in Series A funding from Westbridge and GSV Ventures.

PW's market presence

Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari in 2020, PhysicsWallah initially started as a YouTube channel in 2016, offering free education to students preparing for competitive exams.

The platform now offers online and offline courses and study materials for students preparing for exams like JEE, NEET, and various state board exams. It has grown rapidly, boasting over 46 million students across multiple channels and languages.

The company’s mobile app has been downloaded more than 30 million times, with 5.5 million paid students. 

Notably, it currently employs 1900 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.

"Our focus has always been on creating value for our students and ensuring their success. This new round of funding will enable us to expand our reach, enhance our technological capabilities, and continue delivering unparalleled learning experiences," said Prateek Maheshwari, Co-founder of Physics Wallah.

Growth and revenue milestones

In recent years, PhysicsWallah has seen impressive growth. For FY23, the company reported a 3.3x increase in revenue, reaching Rs 779 crore.

Despite this revenue surge, its net profit saw a sharp decline, dropping by over 90% to Rs 8.87 crore. The company attributed this drop to rising employee costs and increased spending on growth initiatives.

Maheshwari acknowledged the dip but remains optimistic about the future, projecting significant growth in FY25.

"This comes on the back of strong sustainable y-o-y growth - in fact FY25 is going to be the year of largest absolute EBIDTA profitability for the PW Group. There are no good or bad markets but only good or bad stories - and ours is a great impact story!" Maheshwari added.

Investors comment

Speaking about Hornbill’s investment in PW, Dubai-based Manoj Thakur, Founder of Hornbill Capital, remarked, "Physics Wallah is a rare combination of vision, execution, and impact with a thriving 3C model – Content, Community, and Commerce. We are excited to see PW’s use of AI not only to help improve students’ outcomes but also their emotional well-being. We are thrilled to lead this round of investment and support PW in its mission to provide quality education at affordable prices through the use of cutting- edge technology.”

Sandeep Singhal, Co-founder and Managing Partner at WestBridge, shared his enthusiasm, "Our decision to double down on Physics Wallah is driven by the company's exceptional growth, strong execution, and long-term vision. We believe in the leadership of Alakh and Prateek and their ability to solve one of India’s stickiest problem, which is to provide world class education at super low cost and at population scale. In that, PW is probably one of the highest social impact enterprise that I have ever seen."