Physics Wallah’s big bet on offline fetches $210 million investment
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Edtech company Physics Wallah’s offline ambitions and listing plan have fetched it $210 million in funding, effectively valuing it at $2.8 billion, 2.5 times what it was worth two years ago. Physics Wallah attracted new investors in this round, including India-focused hedge fund Hornbill Capital and venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, the company said on 20 September.
Existing investors GSV Ventures and WestBridge also participated. “We want to use the proceeds to expand Vidyapeeth (PW’s offline centres). We also want to use it in case of a large opportunity for M&A, we want to have some treasury with us for that," Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder of Physics Wallah, told Mint.
Physics Wallah has been on an aggressive growth spree over the past two years, entering new verticals and investing in inorganic growth opportunities. The fresh investment is expected to further fuel the company’s growth momentum. Physics Wallah has so far spent about ₹400 crore on Vidyapeeth and Pathshala, its hybrid vertical.
“It is likely that we will invest another ₹70 to 100 crore in capital expenditure in the upcoming year (for offline expansion)," Maheshwari said. Physics Wallah plans to add 40 centres in the next one year and enter cities including Nashik, Pune, Dehradun, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Chennai, apart from widening its presence in existing cities. The company is also scouting for acquisitions.
According to Maheshwari, the company has spent about 60% of the previous funding round on mergers and acquisitions. “Now 40% is unutilised with us from the last funding round and post this round, we will be sitting on a treasury of more than ₹2,500 crore," he added. Founded by Alakh Pandey and
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