Badhiya ekdum! : Inspiring Story of Alakh Pandey from Slum Rented Home to Billion-Dollar PhysicsWallah Empire
Badhiya ekdum! : Inspiring Story of Alakh Pandey from Slum Rented Home to Billion-Dollar PhysicsWallah Empire
The journey of India’s most loved Physics teacher who turned struggles into one of the country’s biggest edtech success stories.
“Hello baccho! Kya haal chal? Badhiya ekdum!” — this familiar greeting has become synonymous with Alakh Pandey’s Physics classes, whether online or offline. What began as a survival necessity has today transformed into PhysicsWallah (PW), a billion-dollar education empire with over 31 million subscribers across 61 YouTube channels and more than 180 offline centres in 109 cities.
Born in Prayagraj, Pandey’s childhood was marked by hardship. Financial struggles pushed his family into a small rental, with his father selling oil on a bicycle. Once considered a “below average” student weak in Mathematics, Alakh turned to tutoring in Class 8 to support his family. Those early days revealed his true calling: teaching.
He dropped out of college in his third year and began teaching Physics in coaching centres. By 2016, he launched his own YouTube channel, PhysicsWallah. In 2020, he introduced the PW app, which gained 35,000+ users within days. The COVID-19 pandemic made online learning mainstream, and Pandey’s reach skyrocketed. Yet, as restrictions eased, students longed for physical classrooms. PW responded by opening its first offline centre in Kota, Rajasthan, in 2020.
Today, PW operates through its “Vidyapeeth” and “Pathshala” classrooms, alongside acquisitions such as Utkarsh Classes, iNeuron, Knowledge Planet, and Xylem, which have expanded its footprint. Its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) highlights this shift: lease rentals for physical centres rose 47% in FY25 to ₹141 crore, while depreciation and amortisation linked to classrooms climbed 22% to ₹366.4 crore.
In September 2024, it secured $210 million in a funding round led by Hornbill Capital at a 2.5 times higher valuation of $2.8 billion.
The edtech unicorn is planning to raise nearly $500-$600 million via initial public offering (IPO) at a valuation of $5 billion this year.
Pandey’s unique teaching style, infused with humour, shayari, theatre-inspired delivery, and real-life anecdotes, keeps him connected with students beyond textbooks. Despite lucrative job offers, including one reportedly worth ₹75 crore annually, he refused to leave PW. “I love teaching. I am not a businessman. I had never thought of starting teaching as a business,” he once said.
From a boy in slum-like conditions to the face of India’s only profitable edtech unicorn, Alakh Pandey’s story reflects resilience, vision, and the power of teaching with heart.
