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The Print
a day ago
- Business
- The Print
Drishti IAS to continue independently 'for now', after considering Physics Wallah deal, funding via IPO
'At Drishti IAS, our decisions are always based on a long-term vision. Though we explored various funding options during last year, including Initial Public Offering (IPO) and discussions with a few strategic investors including Physics Wallah, we have decided to continue independently for now. We hope we'll keep doing better on our own, and if required, we'll explore other options as per circumstances in the future,' Drishti IAS CEO Vivek Tiwari told ThePrint. The institute said it will continue to run independently, as it has for several years. New Delhi: A few months ago, reports suggested that unicorn Physics Wallah was in talks to acquire Drishti IAS, which is among the oldest coaching institutes for civil services preparations. While they were dismissed as mere speculations, the IAS coaching institute has now said it was indeed exploring funding options last year, including through Physics Wallah, but ultimately decided not to go ahead with it. Four major coaching institutes—Drishti IAS, Chaitanya Academy, Rau's IAS Study Circle, and Sarathi IAS—were being considered for potential acquisition as part of a larger consolidation wave in the Indian EdTech and test prep market. With online-first players like Physics Wallah and Unacademy looking to strengthen their offline footprint and diversify into civil services coaching, talks with these legacy UPSC institutes had emerged as strategic opportunities to tap into a loyal student base, particularly in Hindi-medium and regional markets. Drishti IAS was founded in 1999 by popular teacher Vikas Divyakirti in Mukherjee Nagar. It became one of the most well-known institutes for Hindi-medium UPSC aspirants. The Delhi-based institute reported a revenue of Rs 405 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 90 crore in FY24. Vikas Divyakirti's popularity is such that he even appeared in the movie 12th fail, Videos of his classes and lectures receive millions of views on social media. The institute moved to Noida last year after infrastructure issues in Mukherjee Nagar were flagged, following the death of three UPSC aspirants in another institute in the Old Rajinder Nagar area, and fire incidents at other institutes in Mukherjee Nagar. Coaching institutes came under intense scrutiny by public and authorities for infrastructure lapses and licensing issues after these incidents. Sources at Drishti IAS said the institute remains profitable. Physics Wallah is known for offering affordable online coaching. It first gained popularity through YouTube and later launched online courses for JEE and NEET aspirants for admission in engineering and medical courses. But over the last few years, it has been expanding its offerings. It entered the UPSC coaching space after joining forces with OnlyIAS in 2022. The potential acquisition of Drishti IAS was seen as a strategic move to bolster Physics Wallah's offline presence and diversify its portfolio ahead of its planned IPO. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: Drishti IAS relocating to Noida, Mukherjee Nagar may see exit of other coaching centres too
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
PhysicsWallah's acquisition talks with Drishti IAS falls through; Drishti to continue as an independent company
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The proposed acquisition of the UPSC test preparation platform Drishti IAS by edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has fallen through, say industry two companies had been in discussions over a potential strategic investment and acquisition for several months, but the talks have ultimately not an official statement to Economic Times Digital, Vivek Tiwari, CEO of Drishti IAS, said, "At Drishti IAS, our decisions are always based on a very long-term vision. Though we explored various funding options during last year, including IPO and discussions with few strategic investors, including PhysicsWallah, we have decided to continue independently for now. We hope we'll keep doing better on our own and if required, we'll explore other options as per circumstances in the future.'The development comes at a time when India's edtech sector is seeing increased focus on consolidation, operational efficiency, and profitability amid a more cautious funding environment. Several players are re-evaluating growth strategies, with partnerships and acquisitions being explored in 1999, Drishti IAS has built a strong brand in Hindi-medium UPSC preparation, offering both online and offline programmes. PhysicsWallah, which entered the unicorn club in 2022, has been expanding beyond its core NEET-JEE focus into categories such as UPSC, state exams, and professional now, Drishti IAS has opted to chart its own path forward as an independent player in the evolving education the fiscal year 2023–24 (FY24), Drishti IAS reported a revenue of Rs 405 crore. Profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 90 crore, underscoring both operational efficiency and sustained demand in the civil services preparation segment. With demand for quality UPSC coaching continuing to grow, the segment remains highly competitive, with both established players and digital-first platforms vying for market share.
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delhi Police register FIR against Medikabazaar's co-founder Vivek Tiwari
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Medikabazaar 's co-founder, Vivek Tiwari , charging him with criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and falsification of EOW action follows Tiwari's recent removal from Medikabazaar's board amid allegations of financial misreporting. In a regulatory filing, Boston Ivy Healthcare Solutions—the parent company of Medikabazaar—accused Tiwari and 13 others of engaging in "malicious and fraudulent activities" that allegedly inflicted "irreparable harm" on the to a person familiar with the matter, Tiwari failed to appear before the EOW despite being summoned twice.'Tiwari is believed to have gone out of the country. His lawyers have sought anticipatory bail, but no relief has been granted yet despite assurances that he would return by April 16,' the person FIR alleges a "well-planned and deep-rooted criminal conspiracy" by Tiwari and others to siphon off more than Rs 100 crore through cheating, falsification of records, and breach of contract. Tiwari has been described as the 'kingpin' behind the an email response to ET's queries on the subject, Tiwari said the so-called dispute was a meticulously orchestrated plot by certain individuals with vested interests. They have made baseless and uncorroborated allegations to malign his reputation, he said in the e-mail.'While settlement discussions were underway on April 1, they activated their complaint before the EOW, fully aware that I was scheduled to travel to China from April 7. But an FIR was lodged against me on April 11. This FIR has been filed solely as an attempt to extract a favourable settlement from me and nothing more,' Tiwari added in the investigations conducted by Uniqus India, Alvarez & Marsal, and Rashmikant & Partners found that Tiwari had allegedly committed gross negligence, breached his fiduciary duties, and engaged in misappropriation and financial to the FIR, Tiwari and others fraudulently inflated Medikabazaar's turnover for FY22 and FY23 by recording fake entries in accounting systems Tally and Prota, with no real underlying transactions. The company also ended up paying excess GST in FY23, leading to a recorded loss of Rs 27.99 crore."Fake sales were booked to artificially inflate revenues and mislead shareholders into paying higher share prices," the FIR states.
Mint
25-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
Medikabazaar's ousted CEO denies board's allegations of financial irregularities
Medikabazaar's ousted founder and chief executive officer Vivek Tiwari, who is fighting cases in multiple jurisdictions, including the Delhi High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai, has denied allegations of financial misreporting, including inflation of revenues as well as related party transactions with Ignexto Biotex, which is owned by his family member, in an interview with Mint . Tiwari declined to say if the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had been in contact with him as the matter was sub judice. Last week, the medical tech company's Series C investors filed an indemnity claim, seeking ₹ 279 crore compensation from the company for alleged financial misreporting. The board also ousted Tiwari, stating "termination for cause" over allegations of fraudulent and malicious activities, according to a financial statement filed with the Registrar of Companies. 'Mr. Vivek Tiwari is involved in malicious and fraudulent activities, including those of financial mismanagement and financial fraud, which have caused irreparable harm and damage, and are alarming to the well-being of the company," the statement read. The company's FY23 financial statements highlighted gaps in disclosures, including details of property, plant and equipment as well as physical verification of inventory during the year. The company also restated its FY23 financials, including reclassification of inventory, cash and bank balances, debt including current and non-current borrowings, as well as revenue from operations. Also read: Medikabazaar investors seek damages over financial misreporting allegations A spokesperson for Boston Ivy Healthcare Solutions Private Limited, the parent company of Medikabazar, said due process had been followed in all matters through independent third party agencies, external counsel, board committees and shareholder forums. 'In addition, all the necessary steps are taken in accordance with internal compliance, company law and shareholder procedures," the spokesperson added. Creagis and Healthquad-backed Medikabazaar joins a growing list of Indian startups that have faced governance issues. Companies such as Trell, BharatPe, Byju's, and GoMechanic have also faced audits from jittery investors over the past two years. Medikabazaar company has raised a total of $165 million (about ₹ 1,380 crore) via debt and equity. It was reportedly in talks to raise another $150-200 million earlier this year, but that did not materialise after the forensic audit was conducted. Here are some edited excerpts from the interview. See, the manner in which this entire thing came up and since I took the matter to courts, I didn't want to really get into any kind of media-facing situation. I just wanted to make sure that I was given enough opportunity for myself to be presented in the environment when I felt the time was right. And also because I wanted to honour the court proceedings. I was just thinking that I should maintain a certain amount of dignity and silence rather than talking too much about what has gone wrong or what has gone right. I think that's the reason why I was not too much about, you know, speaking about the process myself and all of it. So I think that's the reason precisely. Well certain things happened, which I didn't expect as a founder. Firstly, the way this entire issue came up from the whistleblower letter—the time and manner in which the investigation was done, not including me in major decision-making processes, sidelining me or trying to create situations for me where I would do something in good faith but people would not really honour me or not even get back to me on asking for findings and an investigation reports and all of it. So I think the manner in which it has played out, it's not gone really well. As a founder, I felt as if, you know, I did not have enough chances to speak or be heard. And that's the reason why I felt it's the time that I should speak up now. If people are not willing to listen to my side of the story, then it's very difficult for me to put that narrative in place. Nothing has been made directly to me as of now or nothing has been presented to me for me to present my case or my side of justification on the findings. You know, that's been precisely the reason why all audits and all forensic audits were taking place. But I felt as if I'm being targeted. I categorically deny any intentional misrepresentation of the company's financials. See, in my time of managing the company as founder and CEO, everything looked great. The business was great. The business had grown from a pre-covid to post-covid situation where the growth was phenomenal. And during such times of growth, I raised large rounds of investments. I got investors to the board. Also read: GoMechanic acquired by consortium led by Lifelong Group Before that, there was a board that was managing and overseeing operations with various committees and subcommittees. And then suddenly all hell broke loose. When you have a whistleblower and an anonymous whistleblower letter, you don't give a chance for the founder to speak up. The founder in his all trust and fairness and transparency gives up everything for you to take up that effort of doing all the investigation. And then he's not even presented with the findings. I think that's where I didn't feel as if it was justice was being done to me. I should not have been targeted. Or maybe to the process, everybody who was involved in that whistleblower letter should have been fairly investigated or fairly given a proper kind of treatment as if it was the same treatment for everyone. There was no related party transaction as per the Companies Act. Number one, the size of the Ignexto business compared to the total Medikabazaar business would not be even 2-3%. Number two, Ignexto was a company which was selling medicines to essentially end consumers and pharmacies and all of that. They maintained a chain of pharmacy stores. So it was a non-conflicting business with Medikabazaar. It may have a buying relationship, but all buyings and sellings were done at an arm's length. Number three, it did not have any direct affiliation with me or as my ownership in the company or my wife's ownership in the company. The company was owned by my in-laws, but they have been in the pharmacy business for the past 40 years. So it was in all fairness and justice, it was all discussed with many of the investors in the past. It was not an unknown story that my family, my in-law's family were in the pharmacy business. I was terminated as CEO in August 2024. Before even putting some proper finding and investigation report on record, what was the reason for me to be terminated? Why was I terminated in August 2024 when some reports were actually placed in January 2025? What was the tearing hurry for the board to terminate me five months before the reports would have been tabled in any form or manner, and where I was not presented with the case? On 14 August, an e-mail came from a board member putting me on mandatory leave without any reason. I had recused myself from all those audits and processes so I was not getting into the way of the investigation process. All of this was led by a few of those management members and the board members. Also read | Blow to Byju's: NCLAT grants creditors final say on ₹ 158 crore settlement So, I was certainly put on some kind of leave where I did not agree to the terms. The problem was that I had given some concessions on a good faith basis. Now I started questioning the board about certain conducts and things which were not really presented to me in a transparent way – putting myself in the media last July, trying to portray me as stepping down because of PwC audit. In fact, there was no audit done by PwC. It was never involved in any forensic investigation. It was done by parties with whom I had no idea and no credentials about. In the whistleblower letter, there were no direct allegations against me. Most of the allegations were around financials, revenue or certain things which were related to revenue, leads and all of that. There was nothing directly accusing me of misconduct or doing something against the interest of the company. There were 18 people named in that whistleblower letter and I was one of them along with my co-founder. But there were 16 other people and some of them were part of the CXO team also. See, the legal cases right now are all about wrongful termination. I also have an NCLT proceeding going on for removing me as a director of the board which is with NCLT Mumbai. That's the reason why I was telling you that when the first notice came, I was given a chance to represent myself. I had given a 30-40 page representation with certain facts. It was on 10 February. I had given my representation and I clearly expressed my ability to get few set of documents before this decision or EGM could have happened. I was not given a chance or fairly represented by the company on the set of documents I asked for. And suddenly, one fine day, calling an EGM and removing me from the affairs of the company or from the board was unexpected. So, I went to NCLT at the end of February and Delhi High Court in August last year. Well, see, in the context of the situation and the environment today, I feel as if I was not given a chance to present my case, not given a chance to be heard. So, you know, I would not like to speak much on this subject, but I'm just trying to protect myself. I will take a neutral stand here. But you know, these matters are in court. Yes, I'm not in India. I had gone for a business trip for a very large medical equipment fair outside India. And from there, I came to Dubai for some business meetings and all, because obviously, being a founder and also running the business for a very long time, I had my own connections and I had my own business priorities to be met. So, I think it was more of a business trip which happened, which started with a point. And normally I travel quite a lot, quite frequently. I used to travel 15 days a month, even while running Medikabazaar. And it was more to do with business travel and all. Because I had set up my Dubai office, I'd set up a China office, all of those offices I'd set up, and I had fairly good contact all over these countries. Yes, certainly.
