PhysicsWallah (PW) has refiled its draft IPO papers with the market regulator SEBI, setting the stage for a massive INR 3,820 Cr public listing. With this move, the unicorn is also positioning itself as the first Indian edtech startup ever to list on the Indian bourses.

While BYJU’S was once the flag bearer of the Indian edtech sector, with its plans to list via the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) route, everyone knows how that went. The Indian decacorn’s lax governance guardrails, knee-deep debt crisis, and all the drama that comes with it is to be blamed.

Unacademy, another edtech beacon that could have borne the Indian edtech flag on the Indian exchanges, is also struggling on multiple fronts — profitability being one of them.

Amid the dilapidated state of the Indian edtech affairs, PW’s attempt to get listed feels like a fresh breeze of optimism for the sector that has been crying hoarse and seeking salvation ever since the funding winter hit Indian startups in 2022.

Now, before we move ahead revealing what the market watchers feel about PW going public, here’s a quick lowdown on its INR 3,280 Cr IPO.

In its DRHP, PW has stated that its IPO will comprise a fresh issue of INR 3,100 Cr and offer for sale (OFS) component of INR 720 Cr. The OFS component will involve share sales by the founders, Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, who together own an 80% stake in the unicorn and are expected offload shares worth INR 360 Cr each.

This is unusual in India’s startup IPO market that is filled to the brim with examples of investors taking exits leveraging IPOs. This also suggests that institutional investors have faith in the company and that they are willing to stay invested.

Not to mention, much of the investor confidence in PhysicsWallah is closely tied to Alakh Pandey’s fandom among Indian students. Since the inception of PW in 2016, Pandey has built an image of reliability, directly engaging with students and understanding their academic and financial pain points, an approach that has translated into both loyalty and scale.

While on the operational front, cofounder Prateek Maheshwari has been instrumental in the business strategy, the startup’s core trust continues to hinge on Pandey’s shoulders.

But is the founder’s charisma enough to deliver a bumper listing? Maybe not.

Grey........

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