PhysicsWallah (PW), India's only profitable edtech unicorn, announced on March 20 that it had acquired Knowledge Planet in the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed sum, marking the former's first international acquisition.
Previously, the company acquired Indian firms such as the online medical entrance tests coaching platform PrepOnline and exam preparation books publisher Altis Vortex, as well as the doubt-solving and resource management startup FreeCo and the upskilling startup iNeuron.ai.
While PW will use Knowledge Planet's school partnership machinery to reach students in the UAE, Knowledge Planet will benefit from PW's tech stack to strengthen its online and hybrid offerings, according to a statement.
PW also announced that it will offer SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) preparation courses in the Middle East for students looking to study abroad.
The company also believes the acquisition will add a $250 million market of offline test prep for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for the region’s Indian diaspora.
“We are elated to announce our very first international acquisition in the UAE. With 13 centers operating across the Middle East and a well-established school partnership model, Knowledge Planet, the most trusted exam preparation network, is the perfect brand to champion our foray into this promising market. This is a critical milestone in PW’s journey and we are excited to welcome students from this region into the PW family,” said Alakh Pandey, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of PhysicsWallah.
Founded in 2011 by Monika Oli and Sachin Bharti Gupta, Knowledge Planet provides test preparation and training for major competitive exams such as JEE and NEET.
With Knowledge Planet’s partnership model, PW said it will be able to expand the reach of its existing batch offerings. PW also said it is looking expand offline beyond the Middle East, to countries like Egypt and Turkey.
“We are well-aligned with Alakh Pandey’s vision to offer high-quality education at scale in the Middle East. Our combined expertise will be able to add immense value to the test prep segment in UAE,” said Gupta, who is also the CEO of Knowledge Planet.
In line with the document, the GSV Ventures-backed unicorn reported a net profit of Rs 97.8 crore for FY22, up nearly 14 times from its profit of Rs 6.93 crore in FY21. According to the document, its revenue from operations nearly doubled during the period to Rs 232.5 crore from Rs 24.6 crore in FY21. PhysicsWallah reported total revenue of Rs 234.1 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2022.
PhysicsWallah's total expenses increased sevenfold to Rs 103.2 crore in FY22, thanks to a 21-fold increase in employee benefit costs to Rs 42.18 crore.
PhyiscsWallah began operations in June 2020, and FY22 was the company's first full year of operation. GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital invested $100 million in the company earlier this year, valuing it at $1.1 billion.