Edtech start-up PhysicsWallah made a blistering market debut on Tuesday, soaring nearly 49 percent and securing a valuation of about ₹46,000 crore.
Investors say this could mark the beginning of a long-awaited revival for a sector that has been battered by funding droughts, bankruptcies and business resets.
The listing is particularly symbolic for India’s edtech landscape. It is the first public offering from the sector since the spectacular unravelling of Byju’s, once valued at roughly ₹1.95 lakh-crore, and a series of high-profile layoffs at rivals including Unacademy and upGrad. Investor sentiment had largely cooled after the pandemic boom tapered off, leaving education start-ups struggling to prove sustainable business models.
Shares of PhysicsWallah opened strong and touched ₹161.99 in morning trade in Mumbai, well above the IPO price of ₹109, even as broader Indian markets edged lower.
Market watchers say the bumper debut reflects a combination of pent-up investor appetite and the company’s relatively disciplined approach to growth. “The listing underscores renewed investor interest in the edtech sector, which has struggled in recent years,” said a market analyst. “That, along with the company’s sustained revenue growth and strong outlook, is lifting the shares today.”
India’s IPO market is already on course for a record year. More than 300 companies have raised around ₹1.47 lakh-crore in 2025 so far, with investors showing marked preference for profitable or near-profitable consumer-tech and financial-services firms.
PhysicsWallah had initially targeted a valuation of approximately ₹28,300 crore from its ₹34, 800 crore IPO, which drew bids worth ₹36,700 crore excluding anchor investors. The company, launched as a YouTube channel in 2016, now operates a hybrid model of online learning and physical coaching centres and is among India’s largest education platforms by student volume.
It reported 50 percent revenue growth in the financial year ended March, with losses narrowing sharply to ₹240 crore from ₹1,130 crore in the previous year—an improvement analysts say helped strengthen institutional demand during the book-building process.
The company’s market capitalisation now surpasses that of several unlisted peers, including Temasek-backed upGrad (valued at about ₹19,900 crore) and SoftBank-backed Unacademy (around ₹30,500 crore).
PhysicsWallah’s upbeat debut adds to a string of strong listings this year, including online brokerage Groww and digital payments company Pine Labs, underscoring the broader resilience of India’s capital markets even as global tech valuations remain uneven.
