PhysicsWallah eyes $3.6 billion valuation in IPO
MUMBAI: From a YouTube channel once to a public listing later this month, PhysicsWallah is set to launch India’s first IPO by a major ed-tech company in years. With low-priced courses and a strong social media community built over the years-thanks in parts to wide internet penetration and cheap data packs, the startup founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari managed to widen its reach in the education market where accessibility is the biggest barrier to learning, even as biggest player Byju’s perished in its pursuit of unchecked growth. PhysicsWallah is targeting a valuation of $3.6 billion at the upper end of the price brand set at Rs 109 per share, lower than the $4.2 billion valuation at which the firm’s investors bought shares in a small secondary transaction in February. When compared to its last big $210 million funding raised at a valuation of $2.8 billion in September 2024, the IPO valuation is about 29% higher. The Rs 3,480 crore IPO will open for bidding on Nov 11. The WestBridge Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners backed company is raising Rs 3,100 crore through fresh issue of shares while founders Pandey and Maheshwari are selling stakes worth Rs 380 crore. They will hold close to 72% in the company post IPO. “Other (edtech) companies invested time in marketing and selling….we are obsessed about academics and outcomes. We wanted to list during period of high growth and share the listing gains with others. We never wanted this (IPO) event to be an exit event for our existing investors and we also wanted to create wealth for our future investors,” Pandey and Maheshwari said in an interview. None of the investors are selling their stakes. The IPO size has been pared to Rs 3,480 crore from Rs 3,820 crore through a reduction in the offer for sale (OFS) component which initially stood at Rs 720 crore. For PhysicsWallah, the idea all along has been to keep its prices lower to broaden accessibility-the average price for its most basic online courses for instance, stand, at Rs 4,000. It, however, has started offering some value-added services as the loss-making startup attempts to improve its profitability trajectory and get more revenues from its paying users. PhysicsWallah will also add more offline centres going ahead. “Growth has never been a challenge,” Pandey said.
