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In terms of the pecking order among Indian edtechs, PW’s latest fundraise propelled it to become the third-largest edtech firm in terms of valuation, replacing UpGrad | Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Shortly after raising a large funding round, the founders of edtech unicorn Physics Wallah (PW) are scouting for investment bankers as they gear up for an initial public offering (IPO) expected sometime in 2025, sources told Business Standard.
“It is still very early days, but the founders have identified and are actively meeting with a set of investment bankers for a potential IPO sometime next year,” said a person familiar with the matter.
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Talks are still in the preliminary stages. However, according to media reports, the company is eyeing a potential issue size of $400-500 million. With this, the Alakh Pandey-led firm would become the first edtech company in India to be publicly listed.
In April last year, PW co-founder Prateek Maheshwari told Business Standard that the company would look at an IPO sometime in the next two or three years.
The listing also comes at a time when the Indian edtech sector is going through a rough patch. As per data compiled by The Kredible, edtech startups raised only $138 million across 21 deals during the first half of 2024, a sharp fall from $456 million in 2023, $2.3 billion in 2022, and $5.8 billion in 2021.
PW’s listing plans are starkly divergent from edtech major Byju’s – once the poster child of the Indian startup world – which has seen its fortunes dwindle due to regulatory issues and disputes with many investors, leading to the firm’s insolvency.
In contrast, PW is among the select few edtech unicorns to be profitable. While the company is yet to disclose its FY24 financials, it reported revenue of Rs 771.76 crore in FY23 and remained profitable for the third consecutive year. Moreover, the company is expecting its best year in terms of Ebitda profitability in FY25.
In terms of the pecking order among Indian edtechs, PW’s latest fundraise propelled it to become the third-largest edtech firm in terms of valuation, replacing UpGrad. Unacademy and Eruditus occupy the top two slots as Byju’s faces insolvency. In 2022, Byju’s was valued at $22 billion.
Last month, PW closed a $210 million Series B funding round, with its post-money valuation increasing 2.5-fold to $2.8 billion. The round was led by Hornbill Capital, with significant participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, alongside existing investors GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital.
The Noida-headquartered firm initially launched as a YouTube channel in 2014. Since then, PW has grown exponentially, amassing over 4.6 crore subscribers across its more than 112 YouTube channels in five vernacular languages.
The company has 5.5 mn paid students, more than 14,000 employees, and operates in as many as 105 cities across the country via its tech-enabled offline and hybrid centres.
First Published: Oct 09 2024 | 12:32 PM IST
