He Taught Physics for Free on YouTube. Now Physics Wallah Is a Listed Company

Alakh Pandey grew up in Allahabad, now Prayagraj, in a family that sold its home to fund his education. He went on to study mechanical engineering at Harcourt Butler Technical University in Kanpur.

During his graduation, he taught JEE and NEET students at offline coaching centres. It was there that he discovered what he was good at: explaining physics so students could follow it.

Thirty Thousand Rupees and a Camera Phone

In 2016, according to YourStory, Alakh started a free YouTube channel with physics and chemistry lectures for JEE and NEET. He began with about ₹30,000 and basic equipment: a camera phone, a tripod, a whiteboard and a few books. The channel reached 10,000 subscribers in its first year and passed 50,000 in 2017. Students from smaller cities, who often could not afford big-city coaching, found a free teacher online.

A Partner and an App

In 2017, Alakh decided to build an app. In 2019, Prateek Maheshwari joined him. He is also known as Prateek Boob, which is the name used in the company's filings, and he had run the edtech company PenPencil, which later merged into PW. The two formally launched PW in 2020, with Alakh as CEO and Prateek as co-founder and whole-time director.

The Android app went live in May 2020. It crashed on its first day under the rush of downloads, and it reached three lakh downloads in seven days. Alakh had put about ₹15 lakh from YouTube ad revenue into building it.

The first course, Lakshya, a physics course for JEE, cost ₹999 for six months and drew about 70,000 sign-ups. Online courses cost between ₹1,000 and ₹4,500 a year. Alakh's reasoning, in his own words: "Money should not be a challenge for students who aspire to achieve their dreams." And: "As we want our courses to be affordable for our students, online is the only way."

Beyond the Screen

PW did not stay online-only. It opened offline Vidyapeeth centres and hybrid Pathshala centres, with Pathshala fees of ₹30,000 to ₹35,000 for a one-year JEE or NEET course, according to one report. The company's filings put its footprint at 303 centres across 152 cities, and one analysis puts paid students at 44.6 lakh in FY25.

It also bought into new territories. It acquired Xylem Learning, which gives it a presence in South India, and Utkarsh Classes, which focuses on government exam preparation.

The growth was not even. The same analysis shows Kota enrolment falling from 27,000 in FY23 to 11,500 in FY25.

The Money, Carefully Stated

PW raised about $312 million over several rounds, the latest a $210 million Series B in September 2024, led by Hornbill Capital.

For FY25, it reported operating revenue of about ₹2,887 crore, roughly 49 percent higher than the year before, and a net loss of ₹243.7 crore, down from a ₹1,131.1 crore loss in FY24. One analysis says the FY24 loss came mainly from a one-time accounting adjustment. The company reported adjusted operating profit of ₹432 crore.

Going Public

PW's IPO opened from 11 to 13 November 2025, in a price band of ₹103 to ₹109. The issue was about ₹3,480 crore: a fresh issue of ₹3,100 crore and an offer for sale of ₹380 crore. At the upper end of the band, the company was valued at over ₹31,500 crore. It was subscribed about 1.8 times overall.

The shares listed on 18 November 2025 at ₹143.10, a 31.28 percent premium to the ₹109 issue price. They hit a record high of ₹162.05 and closed the first day at ₹155.20. After that came a correction: on 24 November, the stock fell 5.38 percent to ₹127.60, after four straight sessions of decline. At that price, it was still about 17 percent above the IPO price. I did not look up where the share trades today.

Before the IPO, Alakh and Prateek each held 40.35 percent. Each also sold shares in private rounds in 2024 to GSV Ventures and Hornbill.

The Marketing Strategy: Teach First, Sell Later

The pieces that can be verified fit together well.

• Free teaching built the audience. YouTube lectures came first. By the time the app launched, a large audience already trusted the teacher.

• Low prices as the message. A first course at ₹999 and online courses under ₹4,500 a year set PW apart from the traditional coaching market.

• The founder's voice. Alakh's classroom manner and his message about affordability are central to how the brand is known.

• Reaching smaller cities. The audience was students in Tier II and Tier III cities, and the offline centres came later to reach the same group in person.

What Physics Wallah Teaches Us

Physics Wallah began with a teacher, a phone and a free channel, and grew by keeping prices low and trust high. Its path to the stock market was real, but so were the losses along the way and the volatility after listing.

The story is still being written. What has not changed is the idea behind it: that where a student lives or what the family can pay should not decide who gets a good teacher.