Alakh Pandey's PhysicsWallah targets Rs 31,500 crore IPO valuation; sets price band at Rs 103-109 per share

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah is set to launch its Rs 3,480 crore initial public offering (IPO) on November 11, marking the first public market debut by an Indian edtech company since the sector’s downturn following Byju’s collapse.

The offer will remain open until November 13, with shares scheduled to list on the NSE and BSE on November 18. 

According to the company’s Red Herring Prospectus (RHP), the IPO comprises a fresh issue of Rs 3,100 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 380 crore by existing shareholders.

Co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari (Prateek Boob in filings) will each offload shares worth Rs 190 crore.

The issue’s anchor book will open on November 10. At the upper end of the price band, Rs 109 per share, the company targets a post-money valuation of about Rs 31,500 crore, which is higher than its last reported valuation of $2.8 billion in September 2024, when it raised $210 million from Hornbill Capital and Lightspeed. 

PhysicsWallah plans to deploy the IPO proceeds towards key expansion and operational initiatives. Around Rs 460.5 crore will be used to set up new offline and hybrid learning centres, while Rs 548.3 crore is earmarked for lease payments on existing and upcoming facilities.

The company also intends to allocate Rs 710.3 crore towards marketing and brand-building, Rs 200.1 crore for upgrading servers and cloud infrastructure, and approximately Rs 47.2 crore to invest in its subsidiary Xylem Learning. A further Rs 26.5 crore is planned to acquire additional stake in its joint venture with Utkarsh Classes, alongside smaller allocations for technology and working capital requirements.

Founded in 2020, PhysicsWallah operates 198 offline centres under its ‘PW Vidyapeeth’ and ‘Pathshala’ brands, and serves over one crore monthly active users across digital platforms. 

For FY25, PhysicsWallah reported revenue of Rs 2,887 crore, up from Rs 1,940 crore in FY24, while losses narrowed sharply to Rs 243 crore from Rs 1,131 crore a year earlier.

In Q1 FY26, it recorded Rs 847 crore in revenue and a loss of Rs 127 crore. Online channels contributed 48.6% of FY25 revenue. Pandey and Maheshwari together hold an 80.7% pre-IPO stake, among the highest founder holdings in a venture-backed startup.

They are followed by WestBridge with 6.4% and Hornbill with 4.41%. PhysicsWallah competes with Aakash Institute, Allen Career Institute, and Unacademy in the test-prep segment.