Ed-tech firm PhysicsWallah Ltd. will expand in southern India using the capital boost from the initial public offering, co-founder Prateek Maheshwari said.
"This will be the first midcap education company IPO in India. We are strong in the Hindi heartland and want to expand in southern India," Maheshwari told NDTV Profit.
"This listing will allow us to tap that part of the country. We will have access to large capital, which will allow us to consolidate the market in future," he said.
Maheshwari also said turning PhysicsWallah, among the country's top five education companies in terms of revenue, into a publicly traded company will make it even more disciplined.
PhysicsWallah will utilise the proceeds from the IPO fresh issue for various purposes. It will use Rs 710 crore for marketing initiatives, Rs 548 crore for lease payments of existing identified offline and hybrid centres operated by the company, Rs 460 crore for capital expenditure for fit-outs of new offline and hybrid centres, and Rs 471 crore for investment in subsidiary Xylem Learning Pvt.
The company plans to spend this Rs 700 crore over a span of three years. PhysicsWallah currently operates its southern presence through its own outlets, its application and Xylem.
Prateek Maheshwari said artificial intelligence has made learning hyper-personalised. He claimed AI has solved over four crore queries on their platform with 88% accuracy. The company has built up a 100-strong team for AI.
The entrepreneur, however, does not think an AI tutor can ever replace a human teacher in the near future. "If it comes, we will be at the forefront as we have the data and team to crack it," he said.
Delhi-based PhysicsWallah will launch its IPO on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The company will raise up to Rs 3,100 crore through a fresh issue, and co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari will sell equity worth Rs 380 crore via an offer-for-sale. Both founders own over 80% stake in PhysicsWallah.
The mainboard IPO will remain close on Nov. 13.
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