PhysicsWallah lists 36% above issue in edtech's comeback IPO, then Lightspeed exits

PhysicsWallah (PW) is a Noida-based edtech company founded in 2016 by YouTube teacher Alakh Pandey, selling affordable online and offline test prep from 303 centres across 152 cities in India and the Middle East; it listed on Indian exchanges in November 2025 after raising ₹3,480 crore.

A profitable, offline-first edtech can reopen the IPO window Byju's closed: list PW above ₹28,000 crore and let public money fund K-12 and more centres.

As a private company PW raised close to $490M — unicorn at a $100M Series A in 2022, largest cheque $210M in September 2024 — from WestBridge, Lightspeed, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and others. The November 2025 IPO added ₹3,480 crore (₹3,100 crore fresh issue plus ₹380 crore offer for sale).

PhysicsWallah began in 2016 when Alakh Pandey, a physics teacher and college dropout, started uploading free lessons to YouTube and built a following that exploded during Covid-19. With co-founder Prateek Maheshwari, he turned that audience into an affordable test-prep business and expanded to 303 offline centres across 152 cities in India and the Middle East, raising close to $490M and reaching unicorn status in 2022 while rivals like Byju's burned through billions.

In 2025, with the Indian edtech sector still scarred by Byju's collapse, PW pressed ahead with a ₹3,480 crore IPO priced at ₹103–109 per share. The November 11–13 subscription closed at about 2x — QIBs 2.7x, retail 106%, non-institutional buyers just 48% — after anchors put in ₹1,562.85 crore. The stock listed November 18 at ₹145 on the NSE, a 36% premium, for a ₹45,974.84 crore market cap; promoter holding fell from 81.6% to 72.3%, with the founders selling about ₹190 crore of shares each in the offer-for-sale. In March 2026 the company reported Q3 FY26 profit of ₹102.3 crore, up 33% YoY, on revenue of ₹1,082.4 crore.

Profitability was the unlock: PW could price an IPO and list above the band because it reported profits and positive unit economics while Byju's collapse had made loss-making edtech uninvestable.

Offline presence was the moat that online edtech lacked: 303 centres in 152 cities gave PW a distribution and trust asset that pure-play apps could not copy quickly.

Founder control made the structure possible: with 81.6% pre-offer ownership, Pandey and Maheshwari kept the OFS small, sold only ~₹190 crore each and raised most capital in the company.

The debut premium was a signal, not retail mania: 2x subscription with 48% NII take-up showed institutions priced the listing, and Lightspeed's later full exit above issue price closed the VC loop.

A profitable, founder-controlled business can open an IPO window burned peers closed: a small offer, modest promoter selling and anchor demand turned a skeptical subscription into a 36% debut.

As of 2026-09-06 PhysicsWallah is a listed, scaling edtech company: shares traded around ₹86.8 in March 2026 (Inc42), the stock hit ₹126.13 during Lightspeed's August 2026 exit, and the company is expanding into K-12 through owned schools, partnerships and online products as core test-prep growth moderates. It faces a ₹263.3 crore income-tax demand for treating FY24 investments as taxable income, which PW says it will appeal. Lightspeed's full exit at about ₹550 crore left a dozen institutional investors — ICICI Prudential, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others — holding the stock.