Edtech startup PhysicsWallah becomes India's 101st unicorn, raises $100 million funding

New Delhi: Edtech startup PhysicsWallah has raised $100 million in Series A funding from Westbridge and GSV Ventures, becoming India's 101st unicorn and the first edtech player to achieve this milestone, the company announced on Tuesday.

Once the transaction is completed, the company will be valued at $1.1 billion, it said in a statement.

PhysicsWallah said it will utilise these funds raised for business expansion, branding, opening more learning centres, and introducing more course offerings. 

"We are delighted to join the unicorn bandwagon with this latest funding. This development will help us further our vision and implement new initiatives to augment the learning journeys of students, thereby enabling them to reach new heights in their careers," said Alakh Pandey, Founder, and CEO, in a statement.

Founded in 2016 by renowned YouTube STEM educator Alakh Pandey and later joined by tech executive Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah offers online and offline courses and study materials for JEE, NEET and other engineering entrance and state board exams. The platform offers live classes, video lectures, test series and dynamic exercises for the aforementioned exams.

The edtech platform currently has 5.2 million Play Store downloads with a 4.7 rating and 6.9 million subscribers on YouTube.

The firm currently has 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.

The new funding announcement comes amid a downturn of edtech players in India, with many including BYJU's-led WhiteHat Jr, Unacademy cost cutting and laying off employees due to fund crunch.

"The company has been profitable since inception with positive cash flows and reserves," said Pandey. "Our revenue grew 9-fold in the year 2021-2022 vis-a-vis 2020-2021. Our current run rate for FY2023 is at $65 Million," he added.

Aiming to reach every corner of the country and connect with 250 million+ students by 2025, PhysicsWallah is also gearing up to launch educational content in 9 vernacular languages, including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Odia, Malayalam, and Kannada.

The firm is also looking to bridge the accessibility gap by opening 20 offline coaching classrooms across India. PhysicsWallah has established more than 20 centres across 18 cities with more than 10,000 students enrolled for 2022-2023 session.