Indian unicorn Physics Wallah has grown tremendously in recent years. Last Friday, the Edtech company cinched raising $210 million. Hornbill Capital, an Indian-focused hedge fund firm with contributions from venture capital company Lightspeed Venture Partners, GSV and WestBridge Capital taking the company’s valuation to $2.8 million.
Physics Wallah, Co-founder Prateek Maheshwari in an interview with TOI has said that the company has plans to hire 1000 employees in the coming 6-9 months for capacity building in ongoing businesses and fueling new initiatives. He added, “We will be hiring across the board, including marketing, sales, technology, and business development, both for our main business and subsidiaries.”
The company’s total workforce is currently 15,000.
In addition to its investments in the existing business, it also has a keen eye on acquisitions. Speaking of the immense potential down south, Prateek Maheshwari said, “We believe South India is a deep market, and we may evaluate assets that are strong in the region. We are also looking for companies rich in content and academics, such as publication houses, which we would like to merge with.”
Notwithstanding their substantial funding, the Co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari retain 85% of the company’s equity, with only 15% equity in the hands of institutional investors making it a rare but remarkable feat among startup unicorns that are part of the billion-dollar valuation.
With just 4 years as incorporated as a company which it established itself after another fou-yearr stint as a YouTube channel in 2016, Co-founder Pandey, a physics teacher himself and is responsible for the company’s brand, returned to full-time teaching in May after spending a year on operations, team-building, and other responsibilities.
The company raised over $100 million in 2022, achieving a valuation of $1.1 billion. Prior to this, Physics Wallah was entirely self-funded. Over the years, it has acquired several subsidiaries, including iNeuron, PW Skills, PW Institute of Innovation, and Xylem Learning.
The company’s offline expansion led to a significant rise in employee costs and provisions for certain non-cash expenses in FY23, resulting in a sevenfold increase in total expenses. These costs, which included one-off and non-cash expenses, reached ₹777 crore, up from ₹103 crore the previous year.
On the positive side, revenue from operations tripled to ₹772 crore in FY23 on a standalone basis, driven by the offline expansion. The financials for FY24 have yet to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies. This substantial funding for Physics Wallah comes as Byju’s faces insolvency proceedings, while other edtech players like Unacademy are also attempting to grow through offline avenues after experiencing stagnation post-Covid.
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