SUMMARY
PW’s Maheshwari said that the edtech’s online vertical would conclude FY24 with revenues to the tune of INR 900 Cr, up 80% YoY
The startup’s offline vertical has pocketed INR 680 Cr in revenue, up 115% YoY, so far this fiscal
Talking about FY25 projections, Maheshwari said that the startup intends to capture a top line of INR 3,300 Cr
Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah is on course to report more than INR 2,000 Cr in revenue in the ongoing financial year 2023-24 (FY24), cofounder Prateek Maheshwari has revealed.
Speaking to Inc42, Maheshwari revealed that PhysicsWallah or PW has already touched INR 2,000 Cr in revenue as of January 2024.
While Maheshwari did not reveal the net profit for FY24, he said PW’s adjusted EBITDA will be around INR 80 Cr in FY24, from INR 119.6 Cr in FY23.
As we reported earlier, PhysicsWallah saw its net profit tank 91% to INR 9 Cr in FY23 from INR 98.2 Cr in FY22, due to a steep rise in expenses.
Maheswari highlighted that around 95% of its students are enrolled in online classes, even as the company has also expanded its offline learning business in the past year. The cofounder added that the online learning vertical would end FY24 with revenue to the tune of INR 900 Cr, which would be 80% higher than INR 500 Cr it earned from online classes in FY23.
The startup’s offline learning vertical, which comprises PW Vidyapeeth and Pathshala centres, is expected to report around INR 680 Cr in revenue, up 115% year-on-year (YoY) from INR 316 Cr.
Maheshwari claimed that offline revenue growth can be directly attributed to the expansion of physical learning centres. For context, the startup currently has 77 Vidyapeeth centres from a mere seven centres in 2022.
Interestingly, the startup intends to launch 55 new Vidyapeeth centres by the end of 2024. At the moment, Vidyapeeth centres operate in around 105 cities. “Pathshala is working phenomenally well in Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV cities and towns. We will open 50 more centres in the next two years,” Maheshwari added.
Kerala-based learning platform Xylem, which PhysicsWallah’s acquired in June 2023, is expected to report a revenue of INR 250 Cr in FY24.
PhysicsWallah entered into a strategic partnership with Xylem by acquiring a 50% stake for around INR 500 Cr. This is said to have helped PW expand and solidify its presence in southern India.
Meanwhile, Maheshwari said that Utkarsh Classes, acquired in February 2023, was set to conclude the fiscal with INR 150 Cr in revenue.
Similarly, UAE-based Knowledge Planet, which PW acquired in March 2023, is likely to close FY24 with around INR 30 Cr in revenue. The startup told Inc42 that it earned the remaining INR 20 Cr from its other subsidiaries.
When asked about the rise in this expense for FY23 and the resulting lower profit, Maheswari claimed, “Post funding, we developed a risk appetite. Earlier we used to undertake one experiment, but now we are running 10 experiments. Besides this, we hired exponentially, established our leadership team and gave our former employees generous hikes.”
The startup has also launched a new division that will enable students to study abroad.
Talking about FY25 projections, Maheshwari said that the startup intends to capture a top line of INR 3,300 Cr.
PhysicsWallah entered the coveted unicorn club in 2022 by raising $100 Mn in its maiden funding round from Westbridge and GSV Ventures. Since then, it has been constantly expanding its offerings by entering the offline space and acquiring multiple startups and companies.
The startup has expanded its offerings to offer post-graduate programmes. It also runs an upskilling platform PW Skills. Earlier this month, the edtech startup ventured into offline education for primary classes with the launch of PW Gurukulam School.
The edtech unicorn also announced an investment of INR 100 Cr to strengthen its UPSC vertical and INR 120 Cr to shore up PW Skills.
PhysicsWallah competes against the likes of BYJU’S, Vedantu, Unacademy, and Allen among others. Earlier this week, Inc42 exclusively reported that beleaguered edtech startup BYJU’S has closed the first half of FY24 with around INR 3,500 Cr while expects to close FY23 with INR 6,500 Cr in sales.
