From a small room in Prayagraj and a self-recorded phone, Alakh Pandey—a college dropout—has become India’s youngest billionaire after his online education company, Physicswallah, skyrocketed in value and headed toward an IPO. According to Forbes Middle East, a surge in stock value propelled Pandey and co-founder Prateek Maheshwari into the ranks of India’s wealthiest edtech entrepreneurs, marking a rare startup journey in the online education sector.
Physicswallah began as a YouTube channel launched by Pandey in 2016, where he offered free physics lessons to students preparing for India’s notoriously competitive JEE and NEET exams. His approachable, humorous, and clear teaching style quickly grew the channel from a few dozen subscribers to millions, fostering a massive community of students who trusted “PW Sir.”
As demand for his lessons soared, Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari founded Physicswallah in 2020, transitioning from free videos to an integrated online platform featuring lectures, test prep, affordable courses, and a mobile app.
Physicswallah’s success is built on a clear philosophy: delivering high-quality education to students in smaller cities, where top coaching centers are often inaccessible or prohibitively expensive. Its disruptive pricing, combined with Pandey’s personal reputation, fueled unprecedented growth in the edtech sector.
According to The Economic Times, the company’s revenue surged past 2,800 crore INR (approximately $337 million) in the 2025 fiscal year, while losses significantly decreased compared to the previous year—a positive sign amid struggles faced by many Indian edtech firms.
Physicswallah’s expansion goes beyond online learning. Its “Vidyapeeth” network of offline learning centers, established across multiple states, creates a hybrid “online + offline” model tailored to India’s market, where parents still value in-person classes. Additionally, the company has diversified into professional exam prep, K-12 education, and structured learning paths. This versatility has helped Physicswallah withstand the post-pandemic edtech investment downturn, unlike many overvalued competitors.
As Physicswallah moves toward its IPO, Alakh Pandey’s net worth has surged, surpassing even Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan in wealth growth rankings. What sets Physicswallah apart is its sustainable growth model, rooted in student trust and community loyalty, rather than heavy reliance on marketing—a rarity in edtech.
However, this success brings new challenges: maintaining growth with slim profit margins, intensifying competition in test prep, and navigating India’s maturing edtech landscape. Physicswallah must prove it can scale revenue, reduce losses, and innovate to meet the evolving demands of India’s youth.
Sources: Forbes, Financial Times
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