Bengaluru, June 7: Edtech company PhysicsWallah (PW) has raised $100 million in Series A funding from Westbridge and GSV Ventures at $1.1 billion valuation.

With this , the firm has become India’s 101st unicorn. PW will utilise the funds for business expansion, branding, opening more PW learning centers, and introducing more course offerings. PW said it has 5.2 million Play Store downloads with a 4.7 rating and 6.9 million subscribers on YouTube.

PW offers educational content in the form of lectures, videos, and notes for various test preparations. 10,000+ students are said to have cracked competitive exams like NEET and JEE in 2020 and 2021.

Alakh Pandey, Founder, and CEO of PW, said, “ We have focused on delivering high-quality education with affordability at the forefront, ensuring that learners from all walks of life can continue their higher education and boost their career trajectory without any hassles. This latest 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. .”

Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital, commented, “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 a profound understanding of the education that BHARAT today needs. The founder’s focus on learning outcomes of students excites us and we look forward to a long partnership with them.”

Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner, GSV Ventures, said: “While many pundits say that the bloom is off the rose for Indian edtech, we at GSV Ventures believe the flowers are just beginning to bloom as extraordinary entrepreneurs are democratising learning and skills delivery for the 90 per cent of India still untouched by the edtech revolution. ”

To ensure quality education to students, PW follows stringent quality standards across its hiring mechanism. The firm currently has 1,900 employees, including 500 teachers and 90-100 tech experts. It also has 200 associate professors and another 200 professionals to create exam questions and term papers. “The company has been profitable since inception with positive cash flows and reserves. Our revenue grew 9-fold in the year 2021-2022 vis-a-vis 2020-2021. Our current run rate for FY23 is at $65 million,” Pandey added.

Growth plans

As part of its upcoming growth plans, PW is now gearing up to launch educational content in nine vernacular languages, including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Odia, Malayalam, and Kannada. The core idea behind this step is to reach every corner of the country and connect with over 250 million students by 2025. The firm also looks to bridge the accessibility gap by opening 20 offline coaching classrooms, aka pathshala, across India. PW has established more than 20 centres across 18 cities with more than 10,000 students enrolled for 2022-2023 session.

Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari in 2020, PW (PhysicsWallah) prepares students for engineering and medical entrance examinations. PW offers comprehensive lectures and sessions on YouTube, the PW app, and the website for students aspiring for NEET, JEE Mains. Started as a YouTube channel by Alakh Pandey in 2016, PW has grown rapidly since its inception. During the pandemic of 2020, Alakh joined hands with Prateek Maheshwari to work on a technology solution for students by launching the PW app.

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