Youban, a Chinese developer of educational apps and content for kids, has received Series B funding from TAL Education Group. The company did not disclose the exact amount of this investment, but said hinted that it was in the area 8-digit (yuan).

The startup has raised seed capital in the past from Cai Dongqing, founder of China’s leading animation company Alpha Animation and Culture, and Series A from Oriental Fortune Capital.

Founded in 2012 by former Tencent staff, Youban develops smart role-play apps for kids in the 0-8 years old age group.  The kids can start a journey with ‘Little Dragon’, or ‘Xiaobanlong’ in Chinese which is a cartoon character that take users on an adventurous trips or accompany them to finish certain learning tasks. The company offer apps for nursery rhymes and poems.

The company’s flagship product “Little Dragon” claims to have surpassed 50 million downloads from more than 10 million users. In addition to apps, the team is also developing IP and animation products.

TAL Education Group, a K-12 after-school tutoring services provider formerly known as Xueersi, is one of China’s more tech-oriented education companies. It already operates a variety of online platforms aimed at students from preschool to college. TAL Education Group has previously invested in three early childhood education startups, childcare portal Babytree, science education site Sharkpark and Heyha, developer of early education tech solutions.

Image credit: Youban

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Emma Lee

Emma Lee (Li Xin) was TechNode's e-commerce and new retail reporter until June 2022, when she moved to Sixth Tone to cover technology and consumption. Get in touch with her via lixin@sixthtone.com or Twitter.

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