Behind the Genius: Exploring the Life of Alakh Pandey, Founder of Physics Wallah

“Our aim is to bring about a revolution in education by reaching out to millions of students in a sustainable and affordable way,” says Alakh Pandey, the CEO of “Physics Wallah”.

Here is yet another inspiring story of a man whose journey from poverty to prosperity is nothing short of remarkable. Struggling with financial troubles, Alakh Pandey stumbled upon an idea that would change his life forever: Using his passion for teaching to change the lives of many.

Through hard work and a strong belief in the importance of education, Alakh's story of going from nothing to something has inspired countless students all over the country.

Alakh Pandey – Biography

Alakh Pandey - Early Life
Alakh Pandey - Education
Alakh Pandey - Career
Alakh Pandey - YouTube Channel and Application
Alakh Pandey - Physics Wallah
Alakh Pandey - Challenges Faced
Alakh Pandey - Family
Alakh Pandey - TV Series
Alakh Pandey - Investments
Alakh Pandey - Interesting Facts

Alakh Pandey - Early Life

Alakh Pandey’s early life had been very tough as his parents struggled to make ends meet. He was born in 1991 in Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh. As his family was not in a financially stable condition, he had to go through hardships even during his childhood days. When he was in his school days, his family had to sell their house for financial needs. He grew up witnessing all these hardships that his family went through.

He understood the requirement of him to contribute to the family financially. So, in the 9th grade, he started tutoring some younger kids. Subsequently, he started tutoring in coaching institutes when he was in the 11th grade. But at that time, he had no clue that this was going to be a turning point in his life.

Alakh Pandey - Education

It is ironic to say that ‘Physics Wallah’ who coaches thousands of students didn’t have any extraordinary educational background.

He did his schooling at Bishop Johnson School and joined Harcourt Butler Technical Institute to pursue his graduation in Mechanical Engineering. But, soon he dropped out of college and did not complete his graduation. He then started teaching at coaching institutes in Allahabad for a meager salary.

Alakh Pandey - Career

Many years back, Alakh Pandey hadn’t even dreamt of the career path he ended up taking. As he liked acting, he wanted to pursue it as a career.

But, destiny had other ideas.

Though he started teaching to support the financial crisis of his family, he soon started enjoying teaching which later on turned out to be his passion.

Very soon, he became a very famous teacher among the students at the coaching institute. Students were very much attracted to his animated way of teaching.

Since Pandey wanted to reach many more students, he decided to launch his YouTube channel in 2016.

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Alakh Pandey - YouTube Channel and Application

In 2016, ‘Physics Wallah’ - Alakh Pandey’s YouTube channel, was launched. After almost a year, the viewership of his channel started growing at an astonishingly fast rate.

From just more than 3800 subscribers in 2017, his channel garnered a whopping more than 68 lakh subscribers in 2022. One of the most important reasons for the success of his YouTube channel was that he provided very valuable content free of cost, while other channels were charging the viewers for such content.

Currently, more than 36 million students benefit from the 80 channels that the company owns in 8 vernacular languages.

These different channels give free of cost training for many different competitive exams like IIT JEE, UPSC, CA, State PSC, etc.

In 2020, he also rolled out the Physics Wallah app. By 2021, the app had 2.1 million sign-ups. Currently, 15 million people use the app for their preparation for various competitive exams.

Alakh Pandey - PhysicsWallah

Alakh Pandey, who began his journey as a teacher in coaching institutes, subsequently launched his YouTube channel which became a huge success. This paved the way for his EdTech company Physics Wallah Private Limited. The company has its headquarters in Noida, Delhi.

When the institute was started, around ten thousand students enrolled in the very first month. One of the very important reasons for the success of Physics Wallah is the affordable fees that they charge while providing quality education.

Notably, there is another person, Prateek Maheshwari, who co-founded the company and stands as the backbone of it.

This is what Alakh Pandey says about him, “The credit for making our product great goes to my co-founder, Prateek Maheshwari. He made the app, taught me how to build an organization, taught me automation, and the basics of quality analysis. He is the backbone of PW.” 

By June 2022, Physics Wallah became India’s 101st unicorn after raising $100 million at a $1.1 billion valuation.

Alakh Pandey - Challenges Faced

The story of Physics Wallah might be inspiring and might look like he climbed the ladder too easily. But there were highly challenging times when Alakh Pandey had to stand strong.

For instance, there were giant rivals like some EdTech companies who played nasty tricks to weaken the hold that Physics Wallah had on the students through his teaching. Not only that but also some unforeseen challenges arose like the application crashing when loads of students tried to sign up.

But in all these tough times, Alakh’s unwavering confidence and courage made him even more popular among his student fans.

Alakh Pandey - Family

Alakh Pandey’s parents are Satish Pandey & Rajat Pandey and he has a sister named Aditi Pandey. He is seen talking with pride about his sister who stood by him like a huge pillar of support during the tough times.

Alakh is married to Shivani Dubey who is a journalist.

Alakh Pandey - TV Series

It is truly a matter of pride and it shows a person’s fame and accomplishments to have a TV series made based on their story. Alakh Pandey has such pride in his name. A TV series has been made inspired by the life of Alakh Pandey and called Physics Wallah. It stars Shreedhar Dubey and was released in 2022 on Amazon Prime.

Alakh Pandey - Investments

Physics Wallah invested in iNeuron.ai on Dec 22, 2022.

Alakh Pandey - Interesting Facts

• Alakh Pandey is so passionate about physics that after a few years of teaching, he got a tattoo of a ‘pi’ symbol on his arm and an equation on his wrist.
• Alakh Pandey used to be actively involved in theatre during his school and college days and had planned to have a career in acting.

FAQs

Who is Alakh Pandey?

Alakh Pandey is the founder and CEO of Physics Wallah.

What is Physics Wallah?

Physics Wallah is an EdTech startup founded in 2014 by Alakh Pandey. It is an e-learning platform that offers quality learning experiences at an affordable cost.

When did Alakh launch his YouTube Channel?

In 2016, ‘Physics Wallah’ - Alakh Pandey’s YouTube channel, was launched. After almost a year, the viewership of his channel started growing at an astonishingly fast rate. From just more than 3800 subscribers in 2017, his channel garnered a whopping more than 68 lakh subscribers in 2022.