Physics Wallah founder Alakh Pandey
Credit: @PhysicswallahAP
Edtech unicorn Physics Wallah Private Limited (PW) raised $210 million in its Series B funding round, taking its valuation to $2.8 billion, up from its last valuation in 2022 of $1.1 billion by 2.5 times.
The funding round was led by Hornbill Capital and saw participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, as well as PW’s existing investors, GSV and WestBridge, PW said in a statement on Friday.
"This new round of funding will enable us to expand our reach, enhance our technological capabilities, and continue delivering unparalleled learning experiences,” Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder of Physics Wallah, said.
PW plans to invest Rs 70-100 crores into expanding its offline and hybrid centres, a source aware of the company’s investment plans told DH. It plans to go from 77 offline centres in FY24 to over 110 in FY25, and from 48 hybrid centres in FY24 to over 70 in FY25.
PW’s consolidated revenue has grown 2.5 times to over Rs 2,000 crore in FY24, from Rs 771.77 crore in FY23. The company’s monthly active users grew to 25 million year-to-date, and were 19 million in FY24 up from 6.5 million in FY23. As per the company, PW has over 5.5 million paid students currently.
The funds raised will be utilised to scale operations, with a key focus on consolidation in the education market. PW plans to pursue inorganic expansion, enter the K-12 formal education segment, enhance its content, and explore mergers with education platforms across categories.
Dev Khare, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, shared on LinkedIn, “We believe that the market that PW operates in is about $15 billion per year and could grow to over $30 billion in the next 4-5 years. The company has also acquired three other learning companies to strengthen its position in the market.”
Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner at GSV Ventures, said, "Our investment in PW, the largest commitment we've made to date, reflects our strong belief in the company’s commitment to quality and accessibility."
Initially launched as a YouTube channel in 2014, PW was founded in 2020. The PW app has been downloaded over 30 million times.