PhysicsWallah Raises INR 1,562.8 Cr From Anchor Investors

Edtech company PhysicsWallah (PW) has raised INR 1,562.8 Cr from anchor investors a day ahead of opening its initial public offering (IPO) for bidding. Anchor investors subscribed to 14.33 Cr equity shares at INR 109 apiece.

Of these, 7.96 Cr shares, or 55% of the total anchor round, were lapped up by 14 domestic mutual funds, including ICICI Prudential, Motilal Oswal, 360 ONE Assets, Aditya Birla Sun Life, Edelweiss, among others.

Besides, other investors who participated in the anchor round included Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Helios, DSP, and Invesco.

The largest allocations went to Smallcap World Fund (9.9%), Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio (5.1%), and Nippon India Small Cap Fund (5.35%).

With this, the company’s IPO is set to open tomorrow (November 11). The public offering comprises a fresh issue of INR 3,100 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of INR 380 Cr, reduced from the earlier planned INR 720 Cr.

At the upper end of the price band, the company is targeting an IPO valuation of INR 31,169 Cr (about $3.5 Bn). The valuation target is roughly 25% higher than its last round and about 10.5x its FY25 revenue.

Pertinent to note that founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari have cut their OFS portion to retain a larger stake. Both the cofounders would be selling INR 380 Cr worth stake in the company via the IPO.

The company plans to use around INR 1,088 Cr (35% of IPO proceeds) to expand its offline footprint by setting up new coaching centres and managing leases. Besides, the company also plans to allocate INR 710 Cr from IPO proceeds for advertising and brand promotion.

In Q1 FY26, the company’s net loss zoomed 78% YoY to INR 125.5 Cr while its operating revenue rose 33% YoY to INR 847 Cr. During the quarter, PW’s offline operations surpassed its online business in revenue contribution. It added 105 new centres in the quarter and intends to expand into 10 new cities, including Akola, Muzaffarpur, Dhanbad, and Bathinda.

While offline expansion drives higher revenue, since classroom students typically pay nearly 10 times more than online learners, it also increases costs sharply. In Q1 FY26 alone, PW spent INR 418.4 Cr on setting up coaching centres, compared to INR 377.7 Cr in the whole of FY25.

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