Physics Wallah Launches PW School of Startups with INR 100 Crore Investment Fund to Empower Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Nitin Konde, Apoorva Bajj

Aug 23, 2024 — 3 min read

Physics Wallah Launches PW School of Startups with INR 100 Crore Investment Fund to Empower Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Launching the PW School of Startups (SOS) under the PW Foundation, the edtech platform Physics Wallah (PW) has taken a giant leap forward in its goal to make education accessible to all students in India.

By focussing on the development of entrepreneurial skills, PW SOS aims to close the gap between more conventional forms of education and the ever-changing startup ecosystem. In order to help budding entrepreneurs turn their ideas into profitable businesses, the initiative offers a wide range of resources, including affordable programmes, hands-on training, strategic mentoring, and access to funding.

The introduction of PW SOS coincides with a period of great success for India's startup scene. India ranked seventh out of 49 nations in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor India Report 2022/23, with 75.5% of Indians perceiving good local business chances. In addition, the country's third-largest startup ecosystem is in India, where over 78% of the youth feel it quite straightforward to start a firm. Half of the 10 lakh employment created by Indian startups by 2023 were from areas outside of Tier 2 cities, which meant they were responding to issues on a local level in areas like healthcare, education, and agriculture.

Preparing Participants for Entrepreneurial Challenges

In order to meet the obstacles of entrepreneurship, PW SOS provides its members with practical skills, real-world experience, and a community of support, according to the official announcement. The institution's mission is to support the startup community in its pursuit of innovation, creativity, and long-term success. Those that take part are able to tap into a wealth of possibilities and resources that are essential to the success of entrepreneurs.

Prateek Maheshwari, Co-Founder of Physics Wallah, highlighted, "Our goal with PW SOS is to connect budding entrepreneurs with mentors who have built successful businesses and scaled them. On top of that, we have set aside $11.9 million (INR 100 Cr) to back 100 companies for the next 60 months."

Programmes Offered

Aarambh, Prarambh, and Hopes Alive are the three separate programmes that PW SOS provides, and they are all designed to help entrepreneurs at different points in their journeys. Aarambh is an offline programme that runs for five days and aims to help students, young professionals, and college students accelerate their growth by providing them with tools, networks, and advice from experts. The five-month Prarambh programme focusses on budgeting and business model development; it is aimed for college students, early professionals, small family company owners, and social impact enthusiasts. As a 5-month hybrid programme, Hopes Alive provides seed-funded and bootstrapped businesses with access to capital, mentorship, and networking opportunities.

It is PW SOS's intention to register one hundred in Prarambh and one thousand in Aarambh within the next twelve months.

"Companies in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities have great business ideas, but they don't have someone to help them out or a community to lean on," according to Alakh Pandey, CEO and Founder of Physics Wallah.