PhysicsWallah Prepares For Stock Market Debut With Rs 4,500 Crore Confidential IPO Filing

Online education platform PhysicsWallah has confidentially filed draft papers with SEBI via the pre-filing route to raise Rs 4,500 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), according to a report by Moneycontrol.

The IPO will consist of a mix of freshly issued shares and an offer for sale (OFS) component for existing investors looking to offload their stakes. This comes after the company successfully raised $210 million on September 20, through a combination of primary and secondary transactions. The funding round was led by Hornbill Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, WestBridge Capital, and GSV Ventures.

This latest move positions PhysicsWallah as the seventh major Indian firm to adopt the confidential pre-filing route, following Tata Play, Oyo, Swiggy, Vishal Mega Mart, Credila Financial Services, and Indira IVF, according to the report.

Growing Preference For Confidential Filing

A rising number of Indian startups aiming for public listings are choosing the confidential filing route, as it offers greater flexibility in adjusting the IPO size and listing timeline while maintaining the privacy of financial details. Introduced by SEBI in November 2022, this alternative allows main board issuers to keep financial documents confidential until they finalize their listing decision.

Unlike the standard filing process, where the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) becomes public immediately upon filing, the confidential route allows issuers to withdraw without disclosing sensitive financial data if market conditions are unfavourable.

PhysicsWallah's Financial Growth And Expansion

The Noida-based edtech unicorn was co-founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari in 2016. The platform gained immense popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as students increasingly relied on online education. Today, PhysicsWallah has expanded to over 120 centers in 100+ cities across India, catering to a large student base.
PhysicsWallah provides online and offline courses, study materials, live classes, video lectures, test series, and dynamic exercises for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, engineering entrance exams, and state board exams.

The company witnessed a remarkable 161 per cent growth in operating revenue, surging from Rs 744 crore in FY23 to Rs 1,940 crore in FY24, according to regulatory filings. However, its losses also widened significantly-more than 13 times-from Rs 84 crore to Rs 1,130 crore in the same period. This sharp rise in losses was largely driven by increased employee benefit expenses, which soared 2.8 times to Rs 1,159 crore.

Additionally, the platform's other expenses rose over five times to Rs 1,660 crore, further impacting profitability. PhysicsWallah's EBITDA loss expanded to Rs 975 crore, compared to Rs 22 crore in the previous year.

As PhysicsWallah prepares for its highly anticipated IPO, the edtech giant continues to expand its offerings and strengthen its market position. With strong investor backing and a growing user base, the platform is set to play a pivotal role in India's edtech transformation.