PhysicsWallah founder Alakh Pandey is moving to South India for two years to lead expansion efforts across five states. The company has signed a five-year partnership with Mohan Babu University to provide AI and vocational training to 18,000 students, marking a strategic push into institutional business.
PhysicsWallah (PW) is pivoting its leadership focus to Southern India, with founder and CEO Alakh Pandey set to reside in the region for the next two years. The initiative aims to scale operations across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, building on the company's established presence in Northern India.
The company has launched this effort with a five-year agreement with Mohan Babu University in Tirupati. Under the partnership, PW will provide a curriculum focused on artificial intelligence, skill development, and career-readiness for 18,000 students. This move highlights a shift toward institutional partnerships, which allow edtech firms to reach a large number of learners through universities rather than relying solely on individual, direct-to-consumer sales.
Strategic Shift to Institutional Models
This expansion comes as the edtech sector faces changing market conditions, with increasing competition from traditional offline coaching centers and a broader industry focus on sustainable growth. By partnering directly with universities, PhysicsWallah is attempting to lower the cost of acquiring students—a significant challenge for many players in the sector who have historically spent heavily on marketing to reach individual learners.
PhysicsWallah, which has scaled rapidly since its inception in 2020, reports reaching 40 million students across its various platforms, with 5 million paid enrollments recorded in the 2026 fiscal year. While the institutional model provides a more predictable revenue stream, the success of this regional expansion will depend on the company's ability to adapt its content to local linguistic and academic requirements.
The company faces risks common to rapid geographic expansion, including the need to maintain quality across multiple states and the intense competitive pressure from established regional players. Management will need to ensure that the operational execution matches the scale of the company's growth targets.
Moving forward, stakeholders will likely track how quickly the company can secure similar university partnerships across the five targeted states and whether this institutional approach can help sustain the profit margins the company targets in a highly competitive and evolving education environment.