Alakh Pandey

About

Physics Wallah (pw) is an anomaly in India’s tumultuous world of edtech. And perhaps, even a playbook of sorts. The Noida-based company, worth nearly `40,000 crore, is India’s most valuable edtech firm—the only one to successfully list publicly. From its humble beginnings as a YouTube channel offering free physics classes to transitioning into a full-fledged company in 2020, PW now helps students prepare for as many as 35 exam categories, skill development, and school education. “When we launched our very first batch in May 2020, at `999, more than 50,000 students enrolled within 10 days,” founder and CEO Alakh Pandey said in a recent letter to shareholders. “That moment reinforced a belief that continues to define us today: there has never been a shortage of students willing to learn; there has only been a shortage of high-quality education that was truly accessible and affordable.” That explains his company’s blockbuster listing at a 33% premium last year, raising `3,480 crore. Riding on strong traction in online education, AI-led learning tools, and improving economics at its offline centres, PW is targeting over 30% revenue growth this year. The PW app has 100 million user downloads. The company is present in 200 cities. Today, the offline network of 353 centres contributes 45% to the company’s revenue from operations. In May, PW also invested `120 crore in its wholly owned NBFC subsidiary, FinZ Finance Pvt. Ltd, which provides short-term academic loans to students. “The opportunity in front of us is enormous, and honestly, we are still touching only a fraction of it,” he added in the letter.