Physics Wallah (PW) Secures $210 Million in Series B Funding Round at a Valuation of $2.8 Billion

Subham Kumar

Sep 20, 2024 — 6 min read

Physics Wallah Secures $210 Million in Series B Funding Round at a Valuation of $2.8 Billion

India, September 20’ 2024: Physics Wallah Private Limited (PW), India's leading education company, has closed its Series B funding round, raising USD 210 million. This investment brings the company’s post-money valuation to an impressive USD 2.8 billion, a 2.5x jump over its last valuation of USD 1.1 billion. The funding round was led by Hornbill Capital, with significant participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, alongside the continued support of its existing investors, GSV and WestBridge.

Physics Wallah’s funding round serves as a beacon of optimism amidst challenging times for the EdTech sector, showcasing the unwavering confidence of both existing and new investors in Physics Wallah's growth and its mission to democratize education across India. The remarkable interest from both new and existing investors underscores the strong belief in PW’s ability to deliver quality education to Bharat's next generation.

Alakh Pandey, Founder, and CEO of Physics Wallah, expressed his gratitude, stating, "This investment is not just a validation of our efforts to democratize education and make quality education accessible to every student in India, but also a testament to the impact we have created over the years. Prateek and I are excited to partner with Hornbill Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners in this journey, and we deeply appreciate the continued trust from WestBridge and GSV."

Prateek Maheshwari, Co-founder of Physics Wallah, added, "Our focus has always been on creating value for our students and ensuring their success. This new round of funding will enable us to expand our reach, enhance our technological capabilities, and continue delivering unparalleled learning experiences. This comes on the back of strong sustainable y-o-y growth - in fact FY25 is going to be the year of the largest absolute EBITDA profitability for the PW Group. There are no good or bad markets but only good or bad stories - and ours is a great impact story!"

Physics Wallah produces 9,500 hours of educational content every week with a student base across 18,808 pin codes, accounting for almost 98% of pin codes in India. This funding will bolster its already significant cash reserves to support its future growth plans. PW’s expansion from school education to skilling is integral to the strategic vision, designed to support students at every stage of their journey and solidify its role as a trusted, comprehensive partner in education and career advancement.

The funds raised will be strategically utilized to scale operations, with a key focus on consolidation in the education market. Physics Wallah plans to pursue inorganic expansion, enter the K-12 formal education segment, enhance its content and publication offerings, and explore mergers with community-driven education platforms across categories. As PW moves forward, it remains steadfast in its commitment to empowering students and helping them achieve their academic aspirations through these strategic initiatives.

Here’s what the key stakeholders have to say about Physics Wallah’s latest milestone and its continued journey toward transforming education in India:

Speaking about Hornbill’s investment in PW, Dubai-based Manoj Thakur, Founder of Hornbill Capital, remarked, "Physics Wallah is a rare combination of vision, execution, and impact with a thriving 3C model– Content, Community, and Commerce. We are excited to see PW’s use of AI not only to help improve students’ outcomes but also their emotional well-being. We are thrilled to lead this round of investment and support PW in its mission to provide quality education at affordable prices through the use of cutting-edge technology.”

"We are excited to partner with Alakh and Prateek to support their mission to bring quality education to every student in India. The community of students built over years of painstaking creation of quality educational videos, as well as reasonably priced offerings for online and offline courses, has made Physics Wallah a familiar brand name across the breadth and width of India and across all socioeconomic groups," said Dev Khare, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Sandeep Singhal, Co-founder and Managing Partner at WestBridge, shared his enthusiasm, "Our decision to double down on Physics Wallah is driven by the company's exceptional growth, strong execution, and long-term vision. We believe in the leadership of Alakh and Prateek and their ability to solve one of India’s stickiest problems, which is to provide world-class education at super low cost and at a population scale. In that, PW is probably one of the highest social impact enterprises that I have ever seen."

Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner at GSV Ventures, echoed these sentiments, stating, "The impact that Physics Wallah has had on students across Bharat is incredibly inspiring. 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. The PW team has a unique ability to democratize education on a global scale, delivering high-quality learning at an affordable cost. The positive outcomes achieved by PW students align perfectly with our investment philosophy, and we are excited to further strengthen our partnership."

About PW:

Physics Wallah (PW), India’s leading EdTech unicorn, was founded in 2020 by Alakh Pandey (Founder & CEO) and Prateek Maheshwari (Co-Founder). Headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, PW is democratizing education at scale across India through online, offline, and hybrid platforms, and has reached 98% of the country’s pin codes. Initially launched as a YouTube channel in 2014, PW has been growing exponentially, now offering free quality education to over 4.6+ crore students through its 112+ YouTube channels in 5 vernacular languages. The PW app has been downloaded 3+ crore times, and the company has over 55+ lakh paid students.

PW is creating the biggest hybrid education ecosystem in the country by establishing tech-enabled offline and hybrid centers in 105 cities nationwide. As a lifelong learning partner, PW’s offerings span various educational segments, including 2 Gurukulam Schools, test preparation in 43 categories, a skilling vertical, higher education, and study abroad. Additionally, the company also has an Institute of Innovation (IOI) that provides world-class 4-year residential job-ready programs.

About Lightspeed

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia.

About WestBridge Capital

WestBridge Capital is a leading investment firm that focuses on partnering with high-growth companies in India and Southeast Asia. With a deep commitment to nurturing entrepreneurial talent, WestBridge has built a robust portfolio across various sectors including technology, financial services, consumer goods, and healthcare. The firm manages assets worth over $7 billion and brings a value-driven, long-term approach to its investments. WestBridge Capital is renowned for its ability to support businesses from the early stages through to late-stage growth, providing both capital and strategic insights to help companies scale sustainably.

About GSV

GSV Ventures, a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on the $7+ trillion global education and workforce skills sector, manages and invests from GSV Ventures Fund III. GSV has invested $600M+ in innovators across "Pre-K to Gray" learning, including ClassDojo, Coursera, Coursehero, Degreed, Guild, Lead School, Physics Wallah, Photomath, Quizizz and Classplus.

About Hornbill Capital

Hornbill Capital, founded by Manoj Thakur, specializes in the internet and digital technology, consumer and healthcare sectors. Hornbill Capital has expertise in long-short investment strategies and growth-stage private equity investments. The fund advised by Hornbill Capital was an anchor investor in the IPOs of IndiaMART, Affle, Nazara Technologies, Latent View, Star Health, Supriya Lifescience, PropEquity, eMudhra Limited and Honasa Consumer Limited. The investment manager has a deep understanding of the internet and digital technology space based on its investments across public and private companies in these sectors.