Physics Wallah, one of India’s leading online EdTech platforms, is scaling its offline centres, which have proven the company’s fastest-growing vertical regarding learner enrolment and revenue generation. Physics Wallah co-founder Prateek Maheshwari stated that the company expects to invest INR 150 crore by 2025 to expand its offline businesses, Vidyapeeths and Paathshalas.
Maheshwari added:
We have allocated ₹150 crore for the expansion of offline centres, and we may increase this allocation.
Physics Wallah, the brainchild of Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, began its journey in 2016 as a YouTube channel to coach JEE/ NEET aspirants. The platform now offers online courses and offline and hybrid coaching through its Vidyapeeth and Pathshalas across India.
With the expansion of offline centres, especially in tier-3 and tier-4 cities, the company is also working on its teacher training program to provide and ensure quality education. It has a dedicated faculty training centre, where every three months, they train teachers for these centres. Currently, the firm has a student base of 135,000, estimated to reach 250,000 by the end of FY24.
Speaking about the latest development, Chief Executive Office of PW Offline, Ankit Gupta, said:
The company currently is operational in 38 cities through Vidyapeeth business and has Paathshala business in the hybrid model in 16 cities, is expanding it to 26 more cities via Vidyapeeth and 39 more cities with Paathshalas, thus taking its presence to 119 cities across India.
Gupta stated:
It is a tech-oriented offline business. Vidyapeeth, Patshala’s offline business, will be present in 119 cities across India. Our offline is a lot of empowered with our online technology and online touch points. Similarly, online, we have also introduced many offline touch points.
“Amid the challenging times in the EdTech space, PW stands out as one of the profitable unicorns. The company recorded ₹780 crore in revenue for FY22-23. It is targetting a total revenue of ₹2,400 crore at the group level, with PW business contributing ₹1,900 crore and the remaining from its inorganic expansion. For FY24, we see 100% growth in online learners and 150% in offline learners”, said Prateek Maheshwari.
Even though 92 per cent of the user base of Physics Wallah is through online channels, the offline centres contribute nearly 40 per cent of the overall revenue. In FY24, the company projects that 45 per cent of the revenue would be from offline expansion and by FY25, it projects it would be half of its total revenue.
In addition to its exam preparation courses, PW has expanded its offerings to include post-graduate programs and PW Skills, focusing on career development and upskilling. Students can choose from a variety of online courses, both free and paid. Furthermore, the platform goes beyond virtual teaching by offering offline and hybrid tutoring through its 60 Vidyapeeth campuses across India. PW’s broad educational content, which is offered in nine different languages, including Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, and Gujarati, is one of its primary strengths. PW has a sizable fan base, with over 25 million subscribers across 53 YouTube accounts.
Physics Wallah became India’s 101st unicorn in June 2022 after raising $100 million in its first round of funding from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures at a $1.1 billion valuation.
