Alakh sir, can PhysicsWallah ace the profit test?

livemint.com:

₹779 crore and has the rare distinction of being a profitable unicorn. But as the above instances show, not all is well. In fact, the company may struggle to remain profitable, going ahead.

While its revenue rocketed, its net profit in 2022-23 shrunk 91% to ₹9 crore, data sourced from Tofler shows. Conversations with 10 current and former employees at the company as well as industry watchers reveal a tale of struggle, symptomatic of the larger decay we see in Indian edtech today. Byju’s, once India’s largest edtech firm, has imploded and is struggling with failed acquisitions, governance issues and legal cases.

Unacademy, another edtech unicorn, is grappling with unsuccessful acquisitions and the challenges of establishing an offline presence. PhysicsWallah doesn’t have any known governance slip-ups. But it is struggling to establish and run its brick and mortar coaching centres.

The company has laid off employees and increased fees twice mid-season last year, a former executive said. This led to student churn. The 10 executives didn’t want to be identified.

On complaints of classes not being completed, PhysicsWallah clarified that classes are never cancelled from an academic standpoint unless mandated by an external macro factor (like administrative regulations, extreme weather conditions etc.) . “We take curriculum planning very seriously. We achieve this through a comprehensive plan that anticipates factors, such as teacher absences due to illness or personal commitments.