Alakh Pandey, a 34‑year‑old college dropout, started a free physics YouTube channel in the mid‑2010s. He recorded lessons with a smartphone, a tripod and a whiteboard.

The channel quickly attracted a massive audience. By 2019 it had more than 2 million subscribers, and today it exceeds 14 million, reaching students in smaller cities and low‑income families who could not afford expensive coaching.

In 2020 Pandey joined forces with entrepreneur Prateek Boob, a mechanical‑engineering graduate who ran the PenPencil platform. Together they launched the online education company PhysicsWallah, pricing courses at roughly one‑tenth of rival providers.

The affordable model attracted investors, and in June 2022 the company raised $100 million from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, valuing it at $1.1 billion. Four years later, on 18 November 2025, PhysicsWallah went public, achieving a market valuation of about $4 billion and making Pandey a billionaire.

Today the platform serves over 40 million students across India, offering courses in many languages and keeping education cheap and widely available. Pandey’s story shows that a clear mission and the right partnership can turn free lessons into a multibillion‑dollar enterprise.