Copyright thehindubusinessline
PhysicsWallah has gone public just five years after inception — and at a time when the broader edtech sector is still rebuilding. What does this milestone mean for you? Thank you for calling us young — it’s just five years since we started. We are the first consumer internet company to hit ₹3,000 crore topline in under five years. Most internet players take 12 years to get there. In the last two years, our revenues and EBITDA have both grown nearly four times. It’s an exciting moment for the sector because the market loves hypergrowth companies, and we are operating in a large addressable space — 30 crore learners in India — where we have barely 1.5 per cent market share. For us, though, it’s just an event. We’ll go back to Noida and continue serving our students. The sector has faced credibility and regulatory scrutiny over the past few years. How do you differentiate PhysicsWallah’s model? We’ve always been clear that we’re building for the 95 per cent of India — not the top 5 per cent. Others were targeting premium students and charging 20 times our price point. A student should be able to study only when the preparation fee comes close to the exam form fee. Our annual courses cost ₹3,600 for all subjects and that’s what democratisation means. We also grew through community, not marketing spends. Our marketing never crossed double digits, while others spent 40 per cent or more. That’s because our users came organically from our YouTube and Telegram channels as the goodwill built there translated into habit formation and conversions. You’ve priced the IPO at ₹103–₹109 per share, valuing the company at around ₹31,000 crore. Why such pricing? We could have priced it 30–40 per cent higher. There was anchor demand even at a ₹47,000 crore valuation. But we wanted to leave value on the table. We are a domestic brand, emotionally connected with our students and parents. For us, listing gains for retail investors matter more than a headline valuation. Our early backers haven’t sold any stake in this IPO. It shows confidence in the business — this is not an exit, it’s a commitment. What are your biggest growth levers now? Three things — regional expansion, new exam categories and balanced offline growth. We’ve launched courses in 11 Indic languages like Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, and Bengali, where our penetration is under 3 per cent. The Hindi heartland is 30–37 per cent penetrated; the next leg of growth will come from the rest of India. We’re also expanding into State boards and newer competitive exams. Out of 38 exam categories we operate in, we’re already No. 1 in half. On the offline side, 48 per cent of our revenue now comes from centers, but 80 per cent of those admissions originate online. That online-to-offline loop gives us a cost advantage as we don’t need premium real estate to grow. How are you addressing teacher attrition — a common challenge in edtech? We’ve created a faculty training programme — hiring 500 freshers each year and training them intensively. Classroom engagement, student ratings and outcomes are what matter. “Attrition last year was deliberate — we exited underperformers to improve learning outcomes. Going forward, that number will reduce. What’s next for PhysicsWallah? To become the brand for the whole of India. From JEE and NEET to UPSC and State boards, we’ll keep expanding access — without losing sight of our mission to make quality education affordable.
