Edtech platform PhysicsWallah turns India’s 101st unicorn amid layoffs in the sector

BENGALURU:  At a time when edtech start-ups are struggling and laying off employees citing capital crunch, edtech platform PhysicsWallah has joined the unicorn club with its maiden $100 million funding round from Westbridge and GSV Ventures.

PhysicsWallah, which was founded in 2020, prepares students for engineering and medical entrance examinations. It is now valued at $1.1 billion. The start-up, which became the country’s 101st unicorn, will use the funds for business expansion, branding, introducing more course offerings and opening more learning centres.   This fundraising also comes at a time when the edtech industry is laying off many employees and restructuring its operations. In the past few months, two edtech companies -Lido Learning and Udayy- have shut down.

Alakh Pandey, Founder and CEO of PhysicsWallah said, “This latest development will help us further our vision and implement new initiatives to augment the learning journeys of students.” The start-up, which currently has 1,900 employees, has been profitable since inception with positive cash flows and reserves. Its revenue grew 9-fold in 2021-2022 compared to the previous year. Its current run rate for FY 2023 is at $65 million. India has many edtech unicorns including Byju’s, Eruditus, Vedantu, UpGrad, Unacademy and Lead School. Also, many online edtech platforms are now focusing on offline learning models since schools and colleges have opened up.