Prayagraj lad’s edtech startup is India’s 101st unicorn - Hindustan Times
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Prayagraj lad’s edtech startup is India’s 101st unicorn

By, Prayagraj
Jun 09, 2022 12:44 AM IST

PhysicsWallah successfully raises US $100 million in Series A funding, firm valued at US $1.1 billion

Educational technology (Edtech) platform PhysicsWallah (popularly known as PW) founded in 2020 by an engineering college dropout Alakh Pandey of Prayagraj has become India’s 101st unicorn by recently raising US $100 million (around 777 crore) in Series A funding from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures. The company has been valued at US $1.1 billion.

Alakh Pandey with his parents. (File)
Alakh Pandey with his parents. (File)

The unicorn companies are those that reach a valuation of $1 billion without being listed on the stock market—a dream of any startup.

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Noida-based PW launched in 2020 amidst the pandemic will use the funds for further expanding business, branding, opening more learning centres and introducing additional courses. PW presently has 5.2 million Google Play downloads of its app with a 4.7 rating and 6.9 million subscribers on YouTube.

“Right since the beginning, we have focused on delivering high-quality education in easy to understand medium with affordability at the forefront, ensuring that learners from all walks of life continue their higher education and boost their career paths without any problems,” says Alakh Pandey, 29, founder and chief executive officer, PW.

Though now having set up his base in New Delhi, Alakh owns a flat in Sangam city’s Lukerganj locality where his parents, father Satish Pandey and mother Rajat still reside.

Earlier, the family owned a house in South Malaka area but it had to be sold owing to financial crisis. Alakh then started living in rented accommodations with his family before he bought an apartment in Lukerganj in 2019, shared Alakh’s mother Rajat Pandey.

After completing his intermediate from Bishop Johnson School and College in Prayagraj in 2010, Alakh started preparing for engineering entrance exams and realized first-hand how costly coaching and guidance was. “So, I relied on myself mainly and also gave tuitions to other students to earn some money,” shared Alakh.

He said that in 2011 he cleared the entrance and got admission in HBTI-Kanpur. However, he left the studies midway and dropped out in the third year of his BTech mechanical engineering course.

“All the time, I knew that my heart was in helping as many students as possible and so I decided to turn to YouTube. In 2015 I started teaching on YouTube and in 2017 I made a YouTube Channel ‘Physics Wallah’ and started uploading my videos explaining different concepts of physics and chemistry. Slowly the number of views and subscribers started to rise and within a year-and-a-half I quit giving coaching classes altogether and devoted myself to the channel,” he added.

The firm at present has 1,900 employees, including 500 teachers and over 90 technology experts. It also has 200 associate professors available to answer student queries and another 200 professionals to create question banks and term papers.

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