How PhysicsWallah Became India's 101st Unicorn
Summary: From a free YouTube channel to raising a $100M fund in Series A, PhysicsWallah joins the unicorn club. Read the inspiring story.
"A dream does not become a reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work," said Colin Powell, and we couldn't agree more.
Many people often complain despite having all the privileges in the world. They blame the situations, consequences, and sometimes people for their inability to achieve their goals.
But, there are people like Alakh Pandey (Founder and CEO, PhysicsWallah) who fulfill their dreams despite life's challenges.
If you have been living under the rock, then let us tell you about Alakh Pandey and the success story of his Noida-based startup- PhysicsWallah. His Edtech startup PhysicsWallah has become India's 101st Unicorn. He received funding in its Series A round from investors, including Westbridge and Funding.
Want to know how you can raise funds for your business? Watch this video:
Many believe that the availability of financial resources makes a person successful. But nothing can be further from the truth. Having a solid financial background can help a person, but one has to walk the road to success on his own.
Born and raised in Allahabad, Alakh loved to learn as a child. He wanted to pursue engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. But coming from a humble background, he couldn't fulfill his dream of studying at IIT.
He was admitted to Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur, to study mechanical engineering. To fund his education, Alakh's father had to sell his house. To help his father, Alakh began teaching JEE/NEET courses at coaching centers during his graduation.
Soon Alakh realized that many students couldn't afford expensive coaching classes. So in 2016, he started a YouTube channel offering free physics and chemistry lectures for JEE/NEET examinations. In 2019, he was joined by Prateek Maheshwari, an IIT BHU alumnus who founded startups like Night Panda, Pen Pencil, and Moon 2 Noon. They knew they would be fundraising for their startup in 2022.
After a few meetings, Alakh asked Prateek to join him as a co-founder, and in May 2020, they launched the PW app. The app crashed on day 1, not because of a technical glitch but because there were so many downloads. In seven days, there were three lakh downloads.
Born as a free YouTube channel in 2016 with just an investment of about INR 30,000 used to purchase a camera phone, tripod, whiteboard, and a few books, today it is a family of more than six million students and 1,500 staff, who aim to provide quality education at an affordable price.
PhysicsWallah got subscribed by 10,000 people in the first year and 50,000 in 2017. In May 2020, they developed an excellent tech idea for their business model and launched their Android version.
The course structure is divided into two categories: live classes and scheduled recorded lectures. They are further sub-divided into free (on YouTube) and paid batches (on the app).
"It is a very student-friendly app. More than 5.5 lakh students consume 90 minutes of educational content every day. The overall rating of the app on the Google Play Store is 4.8. Moreover, the PW app is probably the only one to conduct the largest live online class," Prateek claims.
Students can access daily practice problems, one-to-one sessions with mentors, and live doubt sessions by top facilities, including PW founder Alakh Pandey.
From a free YouTube channel to becoming India's 101st Unicorn, Alakh Pandey has had his shares of challenges. But he was determined to achieve something in his life by providing solutions to others, and he sure did!
Bada Business wishes Alakh Pandey more success in the future!