From teaching on youtube to creating a ₹8,000 cr worth startup: PhysicsWallah becomes India's 101st unicorn
Pandey started in 2016, even rejected 40 cr job in Unacademy.
Bootstrapped online education venture Physics Wallah has raised $100 million in its maiden funding round led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, making it the latest edtech to enter India’s unicorn club.
PhysicsWallah raised the money at $1.1 billion valuation, becoming India's 101st unicorn, the company said. PhysicsWallah becomes the second company to join the coveted unicorn club since April this year, against 11 in Apr-Jun 2021.
PhysicsWallah said it plans to use the funds for business expansion, branding, opening more offline learning centres, and introducing more course offerings, the company added.
In 2020, it was officially incorporated by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari. The startup helps students prepare for engineering and medical entrance exams by providing them with affordable guidance.
It has 1,900 employees, including 500 teachers, as well as 200 associate professors. On the Google Play Store, the PW app has 5.2 million downloads, while the YouTube channel has 6.9 million subscribers.
PW is looking to open 20 offline coaching classrooms across India, and is already on track to launch its educational content in nine vernacular languages. It aims to enrol 250 million-plus students by 2025 on the platform. [Via: YourStory]
PW joins India's six other edtech startups—BYJU'S, Unacademy, Emeritus, upGrad, Vedantu and LEAD— in the unicorn club.
Founded by Pandey and Prateek Maheshwar in 2016, Physics Wallah prepares students for competitive engineering and medical entrance examinations. The company currently claims to have over 10 million students availing of its services.
The edtetch startup currently has 1,900 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.