PhysicsWallah - School of Startups

Pick the door that matches what you need

• Want to learn the basics fast: Aarambh is a paid 5-day residential bootcamp — pay the fee and pick a city cohort (Bengaluru, Noida or Deoria). There's no selection to get in.
• Have a problem area but no clear idea yet: apply for Samadhan, the free one-on-one mentoring track. You don't need a startup idea to join.
• Already have revenue and need capital: apply to SeedX for seed funding.
• Already DPIIT- or StartInUP-recognised and based in Uttar Pradesh: apply for the StartInUP incubation track for 12–24 months of support (this one takes equity).
• Building an AI product or an AI-first student idea: apply to the PW AI Startup Challenge — it has two separate tracks (startups and students) and no application fee for either.
• Need your product built, not taught: LeapX is a paid execution service, not a programme to apply to — book a call directly.

How applications work

• Each programme has its own "Apply Now" button on its own page — there's no single application that covers all of PW SOS.
• Aarambh and Samadhan enrolment is rolling, with no stated deadline; watch for the next open city cohort or session.
• SeedX and the StartInUP incubation track are open for applications now, with eligibility (revenue stage for SeedX; DPIIT/StartInUP recognition and UP registration for the incubation track) checked as part of the process.
• The PW AI Startup Challenge runs to a fixed calendar: applications close in late June, and the event itself (pitches, demo day, conference) happens in August at PW's Noida headquarters.
• General questions for any programme can go to namaste@schoolofstartups.live or the phone number on the contact page.

What reviewers look for

• For SeedX: founders already showing early revenue, not just an idea.
• For the StartInUP incubation track: a startup that already holds DPIIT or StartInUP recognition and is registered or actively operating in Uttar Pradesh.
• For the AI Startup Challenge's startup track: a genuinely AI-first or AI-enabled product, at seed to Series A stage, with at least one Indian founder.
• For the AI Startup Challenge's student track: a team of up to four with at least one currently enrolled student, and an AI idea in one of the four named sectors — edtech, fintech, defence technology, or healthcare.
• Aarambh and Samadhan don't screen applicants on these terms — they're built to be accessible to first-time founders.

PW School of Startups (PW SOS) is the entrepreneurship initiative of PhysicsWallah, the edtech company, run out of PW's own campus in Noida with a second incubation centre in Lucknow. It was announced in December 2024 with a fund to back startups over five years, and in March 2026 it was accredited as an incubator under the StartInUP scheme of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The programme is aimed mainly at students, early professionals, and early-stage founders, with a particular pull toward edtech and consumer businesses that fit PhysicsWallah's own reach.

How the programmes work

PW SOS is not one programme but several, each with its own rules. Aarambh is a paid, 5-day residential bootcamp that runs in different cities — Bengaluru, Noida, and Deoria have hosted cohorts — and covers the basics of starting up: market research, idea to MVP, company registration, a pitch deck, fundraising, and a final pitch on demo day. Anyone can enrol by paying the programme fee; there's no selection process.

Samadhan is different: it's a free, one-on-one mentoring track. You don't need a startup idea already — it's built to help you find and validate a real problem worth solving, then sketch an MVP plan. It draws on a large mentor pool and runs as recurring sessions rather than a fixed programme.

SeedX and the StartInUP incubation track are where PW SOS moves from teaching to backing founders. SeedX gives seed funding to early-stage founders who already have some revenue, with applications currently open. The StartInUP track is the formal incubation arm: it's open to startups already recognised by DPIIT or under the StartInUP scheme, registered or operating in Uttar Pradesh, and it runs 12 to 24 months with the incubator taking a 2 to 5 percent equity stake in return for funding access, mentorship, and regulatory help.

LeapX sits alongside these as a paid product-building service — PW's own team helps founders build websites, MVPs, and AI features at a subsidised cost, rather than a training programme.

The most structured, competitive programme is the PW AI Startup Challenge, a yearly event held at PW's Noida headquarters. It has two tracks: one for registered AI startups seeking funding, and one for student teams with AI ideas in edtech, fintech, defence technology, or healthcare. Both tracks charge no application fee. Shortlisted startups can get funding, access to an AI-focused accelerator programme, and a grant referral under the UP government's StartinUP scheme; shortlisted students get a cash prize, a shot at incubation in Lucknow or Noida, a free seat in Aarambh, and — for the strongest teams — admission with a partial scholarship into IOI's own degree programmes.

Who can apply

Aarambh is the easiest door in: it's built for school students, college students, and early professionals who are new to entrepreneurship, and paying the fee is effectively the only requirement. Samadhan is similarly open, for anyone exploring a problem they care about. SeedX and the StartInUP incubation track are narrower — they're for founders who already have a company and, for the incubation track specifically, DPIIT or StartInUP recognition and a Uttar Pradesh connection. The AI Startup Challenge sits in between: open applications, but a real eligibility bar (an AI-first product at seed-to-Series-A stage for startups; enrolled-student status for the student track).

Who runs it and where

PW SOS is led day to day by the Head of PW School of Startups, supported by a small team covering brand, partnerships, sales, and outreach. Its residential mentors are PW's own leadership — founder Alakh Pandey, co-founder Prateek Maheshwari, and other PW executives — alongside a rotating list of visiting mentors from outside PW, including founders of consumer and media companies. The main base is PhysicsWallah's own building in Noida (Sector 62), with an additional incubation centre in Lucknow under the StartInUP accreditation, and Aarambh cohorts held at PW's Bengaluru campus and a Deoria enterprise centre in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

What to keep in mind

A founder shopping PW SOS should treat its offerings as distinct products rather than one programme: Aarambh is a paid short course anyone can buy a seat in, Samadhan is free mentoring with no fixed intake, and SeedX, the StartInUP incubation track, and the AI Startup Challenge are the parts that involve real selection, funding, and — for the incubation track — equity. If you're looking for capital or a formal incubation slot, apply to SeedX, the AI Startup Challenge, or the StartInUP track directly rather than assuming Aarambh leads there automatically.