Edtech startup PhysicsWallah to launch 26 Vidyapeeth offline centres

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah on Friday mentioned it’s launching 26 offline centres throughout India, in as many cities. The centres are known as PW Vidyapeeth.

Currently, the Noida-based startup has 67 centres operational in 38 cities. The offline centres will supply a curriculum for engineering and medical entrance examinations.

“By expanding our tech enabled offline Vidyapeeth Centres across cities, our goal is to ensure access to quality education for students in their own towns, eliminating the need for them to relocate to education hubs in distant cities,” mentioned Ankit Gupta, CEO of the startup’s offline centres vertical.

The firm had reportedly rolled out 50 offline centres in May this yr, with an funding of round Rs 82 crore in applied sciences. In July, it launched the PW Institute of Innovation (PW IOI), a four-year residential programme in laptop science and AI.

Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah gained unicorn standing final yr, when it raised $100 million in its maiden funding spherical from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, at a valuation of greater than $1.1 billion.

For the monetary yr by means of March 2022, it reported standalone working income of Rs 232.48 crore, a nine-fold improve from the earlier yr. Net revenue for FY22 elevated to Rs 97.8 crore from Rs 6.93 crore.

Also learn | Upskilling firms see brisk business as Ok-12, check prep stallThe broader offline play

Post-pandemic, edtech startups have been reeling underneath the strain as demand for on-line and digital schooling within the Ok-12 and examination preparation has gone down. This has prompted gamers corresponding to Byju’s, Unacademy and Vedantu to spend money on offline centres.

While Unacademy introduced a number of rounds of layoffs, it additionally expanded its offline centres from 10 to round 58, within the first half of 2023.

Vedantu additionally counts its hybrid centres as considered one of its key development levers. The Tiger Global-backed startup had purchased a majority stake in offline check prep business Deeksha for $40 million.

ET had reported in December about how main edtechs throughout the board are anticipated to maneuver away from the Ok-12 business mannequin and deal with priorities corresponding to an even bigger offline play in 2023.

In Byju’s case, its 302 offline tuition centres throughout 143 cities additionally double up as workplace areas. Each has an workplace room for gross sales employees. This has helped ease the Bengaluru-based startup’s actual property areas consolidation plans which have gone hand-in-hand with its layoffs.

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