PhysicsWallah sets IPO price band at Rs 103-109/share; aims to raise Rs 3,480-cr
New Delhi (PTI): Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah on Thursday fixed a price band of Rs 103-109 per share for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), aiming for a valuation of over Rs 31,500 crore at the upper end.
The company's Rs 3,480-crore maiden public offering will open on November 11 and conclude on November 13 and anchor investors will be allocated shares on November 10, according to its public announcement.
The upcoming IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 3,100 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of shares aggregating up to Rs 380 crore by promoters.
Promoters Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob will each offload shares worth Rs 190 crore through the OFS. At present, both hold 40.31 per cent stake each in the company.
The Noida-based company filed draft papers in March with Sebi for an IPO through a confidential pre-filing route and had received the market regulator's approval in July. Following this, the company filed an updated DRHP in September before filing an RHP.
The company opted for the confidential pre-filing route, which allowed it to withhold public disclosure of IPO details until later stages.
Funds will be based to fuel the company's expansion and growth initiatives.
Of the fresh issue proceeds, PhysicsWallah said Rs 460.5 crore will go towards fit-outs of new offline and hybrid centers and Rs 548.3 crore will be used for lease payments of existing centers.
Also, the company will invest Rs 47.2 crore in its subsidiary Xylem Learning, including Rs 31.6 crore for new centers and Rs 15.5 crore for lease payments and hostels.
A further Rs 33.7 crore will be directed to Utkarsh Classes & Edutech for lease payments of its centers. Additionally, Rs 200.1 crore is earmarked for server and cloud infrastructure, Rs 710 crore for marketing initiatives, and Rs 26.5 crore for acquiring additional stake in Utkarsh Classes.
PhysicsWallah offers test preparation courses for competitive exams focusing on JEE, NEET, GATE and UPSC along with upskilling programs, delivered through online platforms (YouTube, website, and apps), tech-enabled offline centers, and hybrid centers that combine online teaching with in-person support.
Its main YouTube channel, "Physics Wallah-Alakh Pandey," had about 13.7 million subscribers as of July 15, 2025, while its overall YouTube network had 98.8 million subscribers by June 30, 2025, growing at a CAGR of 41.8 per cent between FY23 and FY25. Apart from its strong digital presence, PhysicsWallah has also built a significant offline footprint.
The company, which is backed by WestBridge Capital, Hornbill, and GSV Ventures, narrowed its losses to Rs 243 crore in the year ended March 2025 from Rs 1,131 crore in the preceding year. However, revenue rose to Rs 2,887 crore, from Rs 1,941 crore in the same period.
According to the company, 75 per cent of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15 per cent for non-institutional investors and the remaining 10 per cent for retail investors.
PhysicsWallah will make its stock market debut on November 18.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
