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This is the story of a boy who was an ‘average’ student in his childhood. He was afraid of maths and the condition of the house was such that his father lost his job, house and scooter were all sold.
The boy’s name was Alakh Pandey. But today the same Alakh is famous by the name of Physics wala. An edtech unicorn founder, whose journey started with a YouTube channel.
Today the valuation of Alakh’s company is around ₹ 30 thousand crores. This company has come with IPO. Its IPO has opened from today i.e. Tuesday 11th November.
Picture of the time of opening of the first center in Kota. Today the valuation of Alakh’s company is around Rs 30 thousand crores.
Big things related to Physics Wala’s IPO…
- Physics Walla has fixed the price band of the IPO between ₹103 to ₹109.
- This includes a fresh issue of ₹3,100 crore and an offer for sale of ₹380 crore.
- Company promoters Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob are selling their shares in the offer for sale.
- The lot size is 137 shares. That means, retail will have to invest at least ₹14,933.
- The maximum lot size for retail is 13. For this, ₹ 1,94,129 will have to be invested.
- The IPO closes on Thursday, November 13, with the listing taking place on November 18.
Subscribe to IPO or not…
Incred: It is advised to “Subscribe” to the IPO. InCred says that the company’s brand is strong and it also has the power to generate good earnings from the digital ecosystem.
However, there are some risks like over-dependence on the popular image of Alakh Pandey and high attrition of teachers.
SBI Securities: Took a cautious approach and gave the IPO a “neutral” rating. The brokerage said – At the upper price band of Rs 109, the EV/Sales multiple based on post-issue capital is 9.7x, which seems to be fair value. The company has increased its revenue significantly, but profitability is still under pressure. Investors monitor performance after listing, then take investment calls.
Anand Rathi: Buying advice. The brokerage praised Physics Wala’s hybrid model, which combines the scalability of digital teaching with the reach of physical centres. The company’s valuation is 10.8x FY25 price-to-sales.
The IPO seems well priced, but there is good growth potential in the long term as it can expand into multiple education categories and regional languages.”
Now let us know this interesting story of Alakh Pandey chapter wise…
Chapter 1: Childhood in the Shadow of Poverty
Alakh was born in 1991 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The condition of the house is very tight. Father lost his job, even his house and scooter were sold. The family had to shift to a small rented place. Papa started selling oil on bicycle, so that he could earn two meals a day.
Alakh was then in eighth class. Students are ‘absolutely average’, maths is like their enemy. But these difficulties made him responsible. Focused on studies, but due to financial constraints, he also started giving tuition to small children. Alakh says- “I realized that I am a teacher at heart.
Alakh Pandey with his mother and a relative. He gives most credit for his success to his mother.
Chapter 2: Leaving College to Become a Full-Time Tutor
Started studying in the college of Prayagraj, but in the third year my heart was filled. Alakh says he had “lost interest in traditional education.” Family forbade him to leave college, but he dropped out anyway. Became a full-time tutor.
At that time he used to teach physics in different coaching classes. But, the condition was so bad that one had to go to coaching in a friend’s car and many times it seemed that the car might run out of petrol on the way. Then created a Facebook page in 2015, which flopped.
Chapter 3: First earning of Rs 8 thousand from YouTube
Started YouTube channel in 2016. Named ‘Physics guy’. Made, edited, posted videos. Teaching style was amazing. Desi humour, poetry, real-life stories and direct connect with students. His passion for acting came in handy here.
Kept posting content for a year. Finally the first earning of Rs 8 thousand came. Good salary started coming from coaching also. Everything was going smoothly. But when everything was going well, I left the job. No second job, no Plan B. Now started making videos on YouTube full-time. Gradually the subscribers started increasing and Alakh became a popular face among children.
In 2020, a company was registered with the name Physics Wala Private Limited. Launched its own Android app for live classes. Within a few days it had 35,000 users.
Physics Wala founder Alakh Pandey is not alone. Prateek Maheshwari helped him in creating this startup.
Prateek is an expert in startup management. He previously ran a food startup in Bangalore. Alakh says, “I love teaching, not business. Prateek took over the management.”
Alakh Pandey started the YouTube channel in 2016. After about a year he got success.
Chapter 4: Business boost from Covid
Lockdown was imposed in the country due to Covid-19. This gave a boom to online learning. In 2020, Alakh and Prateek opened the first offline center named PW Vidyapeeth in Kota, Rajasthan. Today Physics Wale has 120+ offline centers in 100+ cities.
Apart from this, more than 1 crore students are paid members on PW app. More than 3.6 crore students are getting education from 80 YouTube channels. The company provides preparation for exams like IIT JEE, NEET, GATE, NDA, UPSC and also provides school preparation.
The affordable prices of its courses have strengthened the brand. One year batch fees for JEE and NEET range between ₹2000 to ₹5000. Whereas competitors charge Rs 80,000.
Chapter 5: Company Accounts
If we talk about the financials of the company..
- Revenue in FY25 was Rs 2,886 crore, but net loss was Rs 243 crore.
- Revenue in FY24 was Rs 1940 crore, but net loss was Rs 1,130 crore.
- Revenue in FY23 was Rs 744 crore, but net loss was Rs 84 crore.
Alakh Pandey’s net worth is now more than Shahrukh Khan. According to the Hurun India Rich List 2025 released in October, Alakh Pandey’s total net worth has now increased to Rs 14,510 crore, which is more than Shahrukh Khan’s estimated wealth of Rs 12,490 crore.
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