'First Indian Internet IPO where...': Market-bound Physics Wallah's co-founder

Physics Wallah (PW) co-founder and whole-time director Prateek Maheshwari on Friday said the objective of launching the company’s initial public offer (IPO) is to expand its footprint and strengthen brand visibility across the country.

The IPO will open to the public on November 11, with the listing expected tentatively on November 18. Speaking to news agency ANI, Maheshwari said, "The main objective is to have a larger reach, larger branding."

He noted that 90 per cent of the issue comprises a primary offering, which will support aggressive expansion plans, while the remaining 10 per cent is an Offer for Sale (OFS). Maheshwari stressed that "none of our existing investors are selling," calling it "the first Indian internet IPO where none of the existing investors are selling."

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"None of our existing investors are selling. That shows our confidence in terms of companies' current revenue growth as well as profitability growth. So this is the first Indian internet IPO where none of the existing investors are selling," he added.

Also Read:PhysicsWallah IPO: Founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari set to earn over Rs 11,400 crore each — Here’s how

Physics Wallah: IPO details

The edtech unicorn has set a price band of Rs 103–Rs 109 per share for the Rs 3,480 crore issue, targeting a valuation of more than Rs 31,500 crore at the upper end. The IPO will open on November 11 and close on November 13, with anchor allocation on November 10.

The issue comprises a fresh issue of Rs 3,100 crore and an OFS of Rs 380 crore by promoters. Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari will each offload Rs 190 crore worth of shares through the OFS. Both currently hold 40.31 per cent each — 105.12 crore shares apiece — valued at around Rs 11,458 crore at the upper price band. Their acquisition cost for these shares, as per the DRHP, is negligible.

Among other major shareholders, Hornbill Capital Partners owns 11.52 crore shares (4.41 per cent), Lightspeed Opportunity Fund holds 4.66 crore shares, and Setu AIF Trust owns 3.64 crore shares.

Also Read: PhysicsWallah IPO gets SEBI nod; edtech firm set to raise up to Rs 4,600 crore

Use of proceeds

According to the red herring prospectus:

• Rs 460.5 crore will be spent on fit-outs for new offline and hybrid centres
• Rs 548.3 crore for lease payments of existing centres
• Rs 47.2 crore investment into subsidiary Xylem Learning
• Rs 33.7 crore allocated to Utkarsh Classes & Edutech
• Rs 200.1 crore for cloud and server infrastructure
• Rs 710 crore for marketing
• Rs 26.5 crore to acquire additional stake in Utkarsh Classes

Business performance

PhysicsWallah offers coaching for JEE, NEET, GATE and UPSC, along with upskilling programmes, through online platforms, tech-enabled offline centres and hybrid centres.

The company narrowed its losses to Rs 243 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,131 crore in FY24, while revenue rose to Rs 2,887 crore from Rs 1,941 crore in the same period.

Investor reservation

Of the total offering, 75 per cent is reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15 per cent for non-institutional investors, and 10 per cent for retail investors.