IPO-Bound PhysicsWallah Onboards Three Independent Directors

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has appointed three independent directors to its board as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). The company has also changed the role of one of its senior executives.

As per the company’s regulatory filings, PhysicsWallah’s board has approved the appointment of former Zomato deputy CFO and Moonstone Ventures founder Nitin Savara, former RBI regional director Rachna Dikshit, and ex-bureaucrat Deepak Amitabh as independent directors.

The company said in the filing that the appointments were done in view of the proposed IPO of the company. 

Notably, it also changed the designation of Prateek Boob from executive director to wholetime director of the company for the period of five years, effective February. 

“…is hereby accorded for re-appointment and change in designation of Mr. Prateek Boob from executive director to Wholetime Director (‘WTD’) of the Company for a period of 5 (Five) years with effect from February 12, 2025 to February 11, 2030 with such terms and conditions as may be mutually decided by the members/board of directors of the Company,” it said in the filing. 

Along with this, the company has also issued bonus equity shares worth INR 212.3 Cr to all the stakeholders. 

“…is hereby accorded to allot 2,12,32,36,395 bonus equity shares of INR 1 each against the 6,06,63,897 existing fully paid up equity shares held by the existing equity shareholders of the Company as on the record date being March 06, 2025 in the ratio of 35 equity shares (“Bonus Shares”) for every equity shares held…” the filing said. 

This comes after the company appointed Ajinkya Jain as group general counsel, company secretary and compliance officer in January this year. 

The appointment follows PW’s recent $210 Mn funding round led by Hornbill Capital, which doubled its valuation to $2.8 Bn. The edtech unicorn has raised $310 Mn till date from investors including Lightspeed Ventures, WestBridge and GSV Ventures.

Founded in 2020 by Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PW offers education through online, offline and hybrid modes across 105 cities. The company provides free education to more than 46 Mn students through 112 YouTube channels in five vernacular languages.

This is as the company converted itself into a public entity from a private limited company in December last year. 

However, PW reported a consolidated net loss of INR 1,131.2 Cr in FY24, up from INR 84.06 Cr in FY23. Its revenue from operations grew 2.6X year-on-year to INR 1,940.4 Cr during the same period.