Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah reported a wider loss for the financial year through March 2023, primarily due to non-cash expenses, despite reporting strong revenue growth.
The company’s consolidated net loss surged to Rs 1,131 crore, more than 13 times higher than the Rs 84 crore loss in FY23. The rise in losses was mainly attributed to a non-cash fair value loss of Rs 756 crore on its convertible preference shares. Adjusting for this one-time expense, the startup’s net loss would stand at Rs 375 crore.
On the other hand, Lightspeed-backed PhysicsWallah reported a 2.6 times growth in its operating income to Rs 1,940.4 crore in FY24 from Rs 744.3 crore in the previous year. Total revenue, including Rs 74.64 crore from interest and financial gains, came in at Rs 2,015 crore.
The edtech platform generated over 90% of its revenue from educational services and the remaining from product sales.
In FY24, PhysicsWallah managed to control certain expenses. It cut advertising and promotional costs by 70.8% to Rs 19.56 crore. However, total expenses still outpaced revenue growth and increased by 280% to Rs 3,279 crore in FY24.
Founded in 2020 by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah is one of the leading edtech companies in India with an offline presence in terms of coaching centres, schools, and even a college.
It primarily caters to students preparing for competitive entrance exams for engineering, medicine, and state board exams. It has expanded to skill development and higher education courses.
The company recently raised $210 million in its latest equity round to take its total funding to $310 million and its valuation to $2.8 billion. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.