New Delhi: Indian education technology platform PhysicsWallah has filed for an initial public offering worth 38.20 billion rupees ($437 million), draft papers showed, as the market for new listings picks up pace.
India’s ed-tech industry has weathered a challenging few years in which SoftBank-backed Unacademy and Tiger Global-backed Vedantu cut staff while Byju’s U.S. lenders pushed the startup, once worth $22 billion, towards insolvency.
PhysicsWallah, whose backers include WestBridge and Hornbill Capital, aims to raise 31 billion rupees through fresh shares, with the rest coming from a sale offer by co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, Saturday’s filing showed.
The platform, valued at $2.8 billion in September last year, plans to use issue proceeds to set up physical coaching centers, cover rent, boost technology and marketing, and fund acquisitions.
For the financial year ended March 31, PhysicsWallah’s revenue from operations jumped 49% to 28.87 billion rupees, with its restated loss narrowing to 2.43 billion, from 11.31 billion a year earlier.
PhysicsWallah filed draft papers with the market regulator through the confidential route to raise about 46 billion rupees, the Times of India newspaper said in March, citing sources.
The startup did not disclose if it is downsizing its offering.
After a slow start to the year, the Indian IPO market has picked up pace, with dairy products maker Milky Mist and Tiger Global-backed home and beauty services Urban Company filing to go public in recent months.
($1=87.5060 Indian rupees)
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