PhysicsWallah, an edtech unicorn, has announced the opening of 26 new PW Vidyapeeth facilities across India, as well as the introduction of scholarships worth INR 200 crore through its PWNSAT 2023 program (Physics Wallah National Scholarship cum Admission Test).
The announcement comes after the edtech unicorn announced the opening of 50 new PW Vidyapeeth locations in May. PW Vidyapeeth, which opened its first offline location in Rajasthan’s Kota in June 2022, now has 67 facilities in 38 cities throughout India, with a student population of almost 1.5 lakh pupils.
The announcement comes only months after the edtech unicorn disclosed a $10 million investment in PW Vidyapeeth. PhysicsWallah intends to invest $5 million in the first phase of its school-integrated course infrastructure. Following that, the remaining $5 million will be used to create material, enhance pedagogy, and improve school academics.
The PWNSAT will be accessible in both online and offline versions, and it is open to students in grades 6 through 12, as well as those who have left out but are studying for the JEE or NEET.
Gupta went on to say that last year, 1.1 lakh students received PWNSAT scholarships valued more than INR 120 crore. “In the same vein, we are providing scholarships worth INR 200 Cr this year,” Gupta added.
Edtech businesses throughout the country, particularly those in the test prep space, have adopted a hybrid approach, opening real locations while simultaneously functioning through their applications and websites. While BYJU’s purchased Aakash to enter the offline coaching centre industry, PW and Unacademy went the organic route by creating in-house offline coaching centre divisions.
PhysicsWallah, founded in 2020 by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, competes in India’s competitive test prep field alongside BYJU’s and Unacademy. After receiving $100 million from Westbridge and GSV Ventures at a post-money valuation of $1.1 billion, the edtech business will become a unicorn in June 2022.
PhysicsWallah has been making acquisitions and investing extensively in business verticals other than IIT/JEE and NEET prep since it became wealthy. Since August 2022, the edtech unicorn has completed seven acquisitions, the most recent of which being Xylem Learning in June 2023. PW purchased a 50% share in Xylem in order to expand into South India.
The edtech unicorn also announced investments of INR 100 crore in its UPSC vertical and INR 120 crore in its skill development vertical, PW Skills.
PhysicsWallah is India’s sole profitable edtech unicorn, with a net profit of INR 97.8 Cr in FY22, a 14-fold increase over INR 6.9 Cr in FY21.
