Asking investors in China about which sectors they are looking at, chances are they’d say healthcare and online education. Here is a summary of investments made from late 2012 to July 2013 on online education.
English-learning
- 91Waijiao raised $4 million in series A from NetEase, believes Chinese would like to spend more to hire native speaking English teachers. The service is co-founded by serial entrepreneur Gong Haiyan, founder and ex-CEO of US-listed online dating service Jiayuan.
- 51Talk, offering similar services with 91Waijiao’s, raised several million dollars in Series A from DCM at the end of 2012.
- Hujiang, an online language learning platform with 20 million registered users, raised another $20 million in June.
- SayBot, offering digital text books and materials for kids, raised $10 million in Series C led by Qualcomm Ventures in June.
- 17Zuoye, currently focused on English learning, is an platform for teachers, kids and parents to interact. Several million dollars in Series A was secured in January.
- iCardEnglish, a spoken English training service, raised seed funding in June.
Training
- Fenbi.com raised several million dollars from Matrix Partners China in series B in July. It started as an online platform for teachers and students to interact but currently is focusing on developing an system for preparing for exams.
- Xswlpx.com teaches how to use software for charting, photo editing and the like on YY, a video broadcasting platform. It raised 15 million yuan ($2.4 mn) of Series A in July.
- WYZC, a platform offering IT training courses, raised several million yuan from ZhenFund in June.
- Kechengpai, an online training course provider focused on IT and design, raised several million yuan from GOBI Partners in March.
Online Consulting for Studying Abroad
- Focusedu raised several million dollars in Series A from DCM.
Preschool Education
- BabyBus raised millions of dollars in Series A in January.
- SmarTots, a e-learning platform that connects parents and their kids, raised several million dollars from ZhenFund, Softbank and AAMA
- Roam & Wander, which develops apps for kids, raised several million dollars from TMI and WI Haprper.
- 61time has developed an interactive drawing course for kids. It raised feed funding of several million yuan in January.
Shareskill-style Services
- Chuanke.com, a Shareskill-style platform, raised $10 million in Series B from Baidu in April.
- Duobei.com sold a 16.85% stake for $3.08 million to Xueersi.
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