The journey of Physics Wallah is nothing short of legendary. The EdTech unicorn, through its affordable education initiatives, has numerous heartwarming stories of resilience and transformation to share. One such tale is of Sunny, a humble samosa seller in Noida, who against all odds cleared one of the most competitive exams in India—JEE, securing a seat at IIT. His story mirrors the lives of countless students from economically challenged backgrounds who, with sheer grit and the affordable education provided by Physics Wallah, have rewritten their destinies.
These students, from delivering gas cylinders to selling momos on roadside stalls, have risen to achieve academic excellence. At the recently held AWS Empower India event, Prateek Maheshwari, Cofounder at Physics Wallah shared how the EdTech giant was able to provide affordable, and high-quality education priced at just Rs 1,000 for an entire year, including 250 hours of live lectures and practice materials.
How Physics Wallah Rose to Fame
In 2016, Alakh Pandey, the Founder of Physics Wallah, embarked on a mission to make quality education accessible to all by offering free lessons on YouTube. “That’s when he had the realization: though he never formally cracked the IIT, he would dedicate himself to preparing the next generation of students. A college dropout, he embraced what we call the “Chinese Bamboo” story. In 2016, he began teaching for free on YouTube, and from 2016 to 2020, he continued to offer free education, eventually building a community of 2.5 million students,” said Maheshwari.
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During the same period, Prateek Maheshwari was developing PenPencil, a SaaS platform aimed at digitalizing education. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, their paths converged, and together they launched a mobile application that was designed to revolutionize affordable learning. “During COVID, as students were compelled to study online during the lockdown, we saw an opportunity to create an affordable learning solution. Our goal was to provide high-quality education that would engage children in the most effective way possible,” added Maheshwari.
Why Physics Wallah Opted for AWS
The first live session that Physics Wallah conducted crashed due to high demand. This is when AWS came into play. “Our journey began with a significant setback: during the launch of our application, our first lecture crashed. At that early stage, we were introduced to Amazon AWS, which led to an interesting twist in our story. We aimed to launch an affordable course priced at just 1,000 rupees, offering 250 hours of live lectures and daily practice sheets for the entire year. However, we were uncertain about how to manage our pricing and server costs. A friend suggested we explore Amazon’s credit scheme, which offered 1,000 credits to get us started. This advice proved invaluable, and I am grateful for that credit scheme. Many successful entrepreneurs have benefited from it, and it played a crucial role in launching our venture,” stated Maheshwari.
Four years later, Physics Wallah has grown to serve 50 million free users and 5 million paid users, with physical centers in 105 cities across India. AWS’s cloud solutions, Maheshwari states, enabled Physics Wallah to create massive virtual classrooms, hosting up to 250,000 students in a single session. “Today, Physics Wallah continues to make a significant impact, providing affordable education and producing thousands of doctors and engineers, while staying committed to its mission of empowering students from economically weaker sections,” commented Maheshwari.
How Physics Wallah Makes Education Affordable
Maheshwari informed the audience that Physics Wallah’s competitive advantage was its cost-effective delivery model. The organization offers comprehensive courses in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology for just 4,000 rupees for an entire year, he said. “This price is significantly lower—up to 20 times less—than that of other edtech platforms and traditional offline learning methods. As a result, 30% of our students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, reflecting the our commitment to empowering the middle and lower economic classes,” he added.
In the current year, according to Maheshwari, Physics Wallah has helped create over 500 doctors and IITians, many of whom are the first from their villages to achieve these milestones. Recognizing that girls’ education is a critical issue in India, the organization has made strides in addressing this challenge, covering girls’ education in 605 out of 766 districts across the country.
Despite the low costs, Physics Wallah has managed to remain profitable and grow rapidly. Initially, the focus was on serving the 80% of the population that lacked access to quality teachers, rather than targeting the top 5-10% of students. Over time, even those who could afford more expensive options began to see Physics Wallah as a valuable addition to their educational journey.
“In addition to price disruption, Physics Wallah has fostered a large community of students and created “mega classrooms,” where between 50,000 and 250,000 students can study together. This impressive feat would not have been possible without the support of Amazon AWS, which has enabled the seamless functioning of these mega classrooms,” acknowledged Maheshwari.
The classrooms utilize advanced technologies like AI, 3D models, and sentiment analysis to enhance the learning experience, according to him. The teaching style resembles a performing arts presentation, making it an engaging environment for the students. “Proudly identifying as an academics-first organization, Physics Wallah places a strong emphasis on results. This year alone, we have produced over 22,000 doctors and 3,600 engineers who have gained admission to top-tier colleges,” said Maheshwari.
