K-12 online education startup Zuoyebang received USD 150 M for Series C
Zuoyebang
Founder: Hou Jianbin
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 10 billion (USD 150 million) for Series C financing in 2017
K-12 online education startup, Zuoyebang, received USD 150 M for Series C on August 14 to invest in the quality of its online education.
Online education has been a hot area since online technology started to incorporate education. Tech giants in China, such as Baidu and Tencent, have put resources toward starting businesses in this area or invested in other companies who are doing so. With technological and economic development, people have higher demands for their children’s education. Because traditional education resources are always restricted by geography, tech advancements have driven people to seek out a higher quality education. The startup Zuoyebang grabbed the largest single financing round in the K-12 education industry–an indicator that tech can overcome barriers that inhibited traditional education.
Zuoyebang is a K-12 online education startup that aims to provide the most extensive population of students with high quality education resources through the internet and advanced technology. Previously, it was known as Baidu’s Q&A site for K-12 students, Baidu Zhidao, where they could seek answers by snapping a photo of their problem.
It is now integrated with high quality educational resources, which enable students to find teachers for one-on-one Q&A sessions via live streaming classes online. Its curriculum covers students in all grades, including primary, junior, and high school students who it helps through its teaching, learning and testing, training, and assessment services, among others.
Founded in 2015 in Beijing, it has attracted more than 200 million users across China, with over 60 million users active daily on its platform. It is introducing big data technology to help Chinese students do better in various examinations.
This new financing round led by H Capital proved to be the largest single financing round in the K-12 education industry. Zuoyebang’s existing investors, such as Tiger Fund, Sequoia Capital, and GGV Capital, also participated. The capital will be used to invest in the improvement of its educational efficiency and recruit more talent to expand its team.
Online short video platform Ergeng received USD 22 M for Series B
Ergeng
Founder: Ding Feng
Founded in: 2014
Financing status: RMB 150 million (USD 22 million) for Series B financing in 2017
Online short video platform, Ergeng, received USD 22 M for Series B on August 14 to expand its platform’s content.
Ergeng is an online short video platform that distributes original short video content through its website and official social media platforms, including Tencent’s WeChat official account and China’s Twitter Weibo.
It mainly features funny and food-related videos, and enable users to record and upload innovative videos through its app. Currently, most of the short video content on Ergeng is produced by its users, while some content is produced for its business partners. Ergeng’s revenue is mainly from the production of its partners’ videos to users, its partners being museums, food and drink brands, etc..
Founded in 2014 in Hangzhou, by now it has over three million followers on Weibo. Its user base is close to 50 million people, and its videos have more than 1 billion views in one month.
This Series B financing round was led by Yunfeng Capital, with Houde and some existing investors participating. Ergeng plans to use the funds to expand its platform’s content range, which might include introducing sports videos. Meanwhile, it is seeking revenue from innovative sources, such as advertisement and paid subscriptions.
(Top photo from 58pic.com)
