PhysicsWallah hires former Blinkit CFO Amit Sachdeva as it readies for 2025 IPO

PhysicsWallah (PW), the Lightspeed-backed edtech unicorn, has appointed Amit Sachdeva as chief financial officer as it gears up for a public-market debut in 2025. Sachdeva, formerly Blinkit’s (previously Grofers) finance chief until its ₹4,000 crore acquisition by Zomato in 2022, brings a wealth of experience from the tech and consumer sectors to the fast-growing edtech firm.

Most recently, Sachdeva served as CFO of IT services firm IGT Solutions in Gurugram, with prior roles spanning finance leadership at Wipro’s digital operations and platforms vertical. His LinkedIn profile highlights a career built around steering finance operations across software and consumer tech.

PhysicsWallah’s latest hire follows a $210 million funding round led by Hornbill Capital Advisers and Lightspeed Venture Partners, which valued the edtech firm at $2.8 billion, more than doubling its prior valuation of $1.1 billion. 

Existing backers GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital also participated. Hornbill Capital, headed by managing partner Manoj Thakur, brings seasoned IPO expertise to PhysicsWallah’s cap table as the edtech unicorn sets its sights on a potential IPO. While specifics remain undisclosed, company insiders and investors express confidence in the startup's IPO-readiness.

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“Manoj has taken a lot of companies public, which attracted us towards Hornbill, and Manoj as an individual, because they are the right advisors for us to make us IPO-ready and take us public," Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder of Physics Wallah, had told Mint in an interview in September. “We are strengthening our finance team and our governance processes," he added.

While India’s edtech sector has yet to see significant IPO activity, other tech verticals like food delivery (Zomato), fintech (Paytm), and mobility (Ola Electric) are experiencing an IPO surge, with Swiggy going public on Wednesday and MobiKwik eyeing a stock-market debut soon.

PhysicsWallah has been on an expansion drive, entering new business areas and accelerating growth through acquisitions. Over the next 12 months, the firm plans to establish 40 centres in cities including Nashik, Pune, Dehradun, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, bolstering its footprint in key markets. PhysicsWallah has allocated about 60% of its latest funding round towards M&A activities, Mint had reported.

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“Amit’s experience in financial leadership and his focus on robust corporate governance will be invaluable as we continue our efforts to grow and broaden our educational impact. His approach to finance as a transformative tool aligns with PW’s goals, and we’re happy to welcome him,” Alakh Pandey, chief executive officer of PhysicsWallah, said in a statement on Thursday.