By FMTeam Alakh Pandey is the founder and CEO of the Ed-Tech unicorn Physics Wallah. He helps students to prepare for the difficult IIT entrance exam. Every year, lakhs of Indian students appear for exams like the IIT- JEE, CAT and UPSC. But not all succeed in these exams. He helps IIT-JEE aspirants to crack this difficult exam and find success in it.
| Feature | Details |
| Name | Alakh Pandey |
| Occupation | CEO of Ed-Tech Unicorn Physics Wallah |
| Known For | Starting online education courses for JEE and NEET aspirants. |
| Net Worth | $240 million |
| Age | 32 years old |
| Education | B.Tech discontinued |
| Other Ventures | Established PW Vidyapeeth, launched PW pathshala, published many books. |
| Notable Achievements | Started Physics Wallah YouTube Channel which attained unicorn status. He also expands it into offline education. |
Early Life and Education:
Alakh Pandey was born and brought up in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He dreamt of pursuing acting as his career in early life and he used to take active part on local dramas. Owing to his difficult financial condition, he started to take tuition classes for class 8 students. He was able to crack the JEE exams with a good score. He got admission at Harcourt Butler College, Kanpur. But he discontinued his studies and started taking up the teaching profession.
Since he became the teacher during the digital era, instead of taking classes in the college as a professor, he started a YouTube channel and started to teach students through it. Though his starting salary was only Rs.5000, which he received as tuition fees, he grew to build up a company that is worth Rs. 9100 crore. He is one of the richest young entrepreneurs from Uttar Pradesh. His YouTube channel Physics Wallah has over 61 channels and has over 31 million users. His net worth is over Rs. 2,000 crores, which makes his the richest teacher in India.
In the year 2016, he started making YouTube videos to teach the underprivileged kids. During the corona virus pandemic, his videos garnered great attention from the public. Now, his ed-tech company has over 500 teachers and about 100 technical personnel.
Career:
Alakh Pandey was born on 2nd October 1991. He is a college drop-out and his life journey started with the financial struggles of his father. He eventually found success through private tuitions and teaching. He started teaching young 6th grade student and later ventured into creating educational content on his YouTube Channel.
Alakh Pandey started his YouTube Channel in 2016, and he established the Physics Wallah app in 2020. He has achieved millions of subscribers for his channel and today, Phusics Wallah is valued at Rs. 8000 crore. The channel focuses primarily on delivering course content for JEE Mains, IIT, NEET and JEE advanced examinations.
In June 2022, Physics Wallah became the 101st unicorn, after raising about $101 million through its Series A funding from the GSV and Westbridge ventures. He has also approached the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, to enhance the educational system and to create the coaching centers in UP.
Growth of Physics Wallah:
Physics Wallah started its offline classroom teaching through its offline learning facility, PW Vidyapeeth in Kota, Rajasthan. The startup company completed its Series A investment in June 2022, raising a capital of $100 million. Physics Wallah has made four acquisitions, including PrepOnline, iNeuron.ai, Altis Vortex and FeeCo. These acquisitions help to generate significant revenue to the company. The company has planned to create more offline coaching centers and offer more courses. It is also planning to expand its teaching materials in nine regional languages.
Achievements and Awards:
Physics Wallah has been awarded as the rising EdTech startup of India by Piyush Goyal. Alakh Pandey received an award from Arvind Kejriwal for his significant contribution in the field of education. He has been listed under Times under 40 leaders in the year 2022 and received teaching excellence award at Entrepreneur India in February 2024.