PhysicsWallah became India's most unlikely edtech unicorn by charging students $5 for courses that competitors priced at $500. Alakh Pandey started as a YouTube teacher in a small Indian town, built a 15-million-subscriber channel, and then raised $100 million to build an edtech company that proved affordable education could also be a billion-dollar business. The anti-Byju's.
Founded
2020
HQ
Noida, India
Total Raised
$210 Million
Founder
Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari
Status
Private — Valued at $1.1B (unicorn)
Website
www.physicswallah.liveTHE ORIGIN STORY
Alakh Pandey started making physics videos on YouTube in 2016 from his hometown in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was not a professional teacher — he was a student who was really good at explaining concepts in simple Hindi.
His videos went viral because of his energy, humor, and the fact that he was genuinely making difficult physics concepts understandable for free. By 2020, he had over 7 million subscribers.
He and Prateek Maheshwari launched PhysicsWallah as an app in 2020, offering paid courses at radically low prices. When it raised $100 million at a $1.1 billion valuation in 2022, it became India's most affordable edtech unicorn.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
PhysicsWallah sells affordable online courses for Indian students preparing for competitive exams — primarily IIT-JEE (engineering), NEET (medical), and state-level entrance exams. Courses are priced at $5-30, a fraction of what Byju's or Unacademy charge.
Revenue comes from course sales, test series subscriptions, and a growing network of offline learning centers (Vidyapeeth). They also have a free YouTube channel with 15+ million subscribers.
THE PRODUCTS
JEE/NEET prep courses ($5-30), PhysicsWallah YouTube (15M+ subscribers), Vidyapeeth (70+ offline centers), Test series and mock exams, Alakh Pandey live classes
HOW THEY GREW
Open more Vidyapeeth offline centers in tier-2 and tier-3 Indian cities where online infrastructure is less reliable. Expand beyond JEE/NEET into upskilling and professional courses.
Keep prices radically lower than competitors to maintain the brand promise. Build technology for personalized learning while keeping costs low.
THE HARD PART
Scaling beyond online-only. PhysicsWallah has opened 70+ offline learning centers (Vidyapeeth) across India, which is capital-intensive and operationally complex.
Maintaining quality as the instructor base grows beyond Alakh Pandey personally is the other big challenge — his personal brand IS the company, and scaling a personality-driven business is always tricky.
MONEY TRAIL
Series A
2022 · Led by
$100M raised
Series B
2023 · Led by
$110M raised
WHO BACKED THEM
WestBridge Capital, GSV Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners
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