- Yuanfudao, a homework tutoring app raises $2.2 million
- The app surpasses Byjus as the most valuable ed-tech
- This brings the gross worth to $15.5 billion
- Money will be used to develop the curriculum and expand.
Yuanfudao is a Chinese live tutoring app. The homework tutoring app was founded in 2012. The company has raised $2.2 billion from investors. Surprisingly it has surpassed Byjus as the most valuable edtech company in the world.
This brings the Beijing-based company’s gross worth to $15.5 billion. This amount is almost double its valuation set in March. The new capital comes from two separate extension rounds. A $ 1 billion Series G financing event and a March raise.
The G1 round was led by Tencent with participation from Hillhouse Capital. It also included participation from Boyu Capital and IDG Capital. The G2 financing was led by DST Global, Ocean Link. It also included participation from GIC, Temasek, TBP, Greenwoods, and danhe Capital.
What will be the funding used for?
The money collected will be used to develop the curriculum and expand Yuanfudao’s online educational services. In 2018, a majority of its revenue came from selling live courses. Its goal then was to fund and bring more AI to its products.
In the past two years, Yuanfudao has doubled its total users to 400 million across China. The funding today suggests that it will push more live, online coursework. At present, it offers: live tutoring, an online Q&A arm, and a math problem charking arm.
The company includes 30,000 employees in teaching centers across China. In 2014 the company set up an AI Research Institute and technology laboratory. This worked in collaboration with elite schools It included Tsinghua University, Peking University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Microsoft.
The company sees AI as an opportunity to look for students’ weaknesses. It then addresses the teacher’s curriculum. Comparatively, Asia has a stronger education market. This is because of a cultural focus on outcomes in education.
A report suggests that the education economy in China could be worth $81 billion in two years. Yuanfudao is not alone in this race. There are various organizations to win the tutoring market. Each one of them comes with its own ways.
Zuoyebang is another Beijing based startup. It is a well-funded company that focuses on online learning. The company last raised $750 million in June.
