Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has forayed into test preparations vertical for post graduate students preparing for their Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (Gate) examinations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
A unicorn is a privately-held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
The Westbridge and GSV Ventures-backed company's new vertical GATEWallah will be led by a team which comprises of IITians, former IES officers and under-ten rank holders in GATE, among others.
Launched during the pandemic in 2020, PhysicsWallah (PW) aims to prepare students for engineering and medical entrance examinations. Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PW specializes in giving comprehensive lectures and sessions on YouTube, the PW app, and the website for students aspiring for NEET, JEE Mains.
The edtech platform facilitates interactive educational content in the form of lectures and audio-visual media. In 2020 and 2021, over 10,000 students cracked competitive exams like NEET and JEE.
“We have been serving undergraduate categories and are producing remarkable results; with this new endeavour of ours, we will be empowering the graduates too. The undergraduate students who have been associated with PW for a long time requested us to launch programs in PG categories, so we are starting with GATE,” said Pandey.
The edtech industry, which boomed during the pandemic as teaching moved online, has witnessed a major funding crunch and moderation in valuations with reopening of offline educational institutions.
With a focus on conserving costs, several have resorted to mass layoffs and trimming discretionary spending.
But things have been on the upward trajectory for PhysicsWallah.
Last month, the unicorn acquired Jaipur-based doubt-solving and resource management startup, FreeCo for an undisclosed amount.
That marked the company’s first acquisition after turning unicorn in June. after raising $100 million in its Series A funding round from marquee investors Westbridge and GSV Ventures at a valuation of $1.1 billion.
