Online Children's English Learning Platform 'Vipkid' Wins USD 100 Mln Series C
DoNews, 8/03/16
Beijing-based Dami Technology, operator of online and mobile one-on-one children's English language education platform Vipkid, recently announced completion of USD 100 mln Series C funding led by Yunfeng Capital, a private equity company founded by Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma, and with participation from Sequoia Capital. Cindy Mi, founder of Vipkid, said that Vipkid will participate in formulating global standards for English as a second language (ESL) training and instruction. In addition, Mi said that following this funding round the company will increase its investment in education research and accelerate its development into a global and comprehensive platform.
Vipkid operates through its online and mobile app platforms and offers online distance learning courses for children ages 5-12. The company recruits instructors who have North American elementary school teaching credentials.
Students can access the online and mobile platforms to book online class times, check their course progress, and read instructor feedback. After booking an appointment, the student meets with the instructor through the online platform for one-on-one classes.
A representative for Vipkid said that the platform currently has more than 500,000 registered users, including more than 30,000 fee-paying users, and that it has more than 2,500 instructors based in North America.
Dami, established in October 2013, completed Series B funding in October 2015. The company completed additional funding from ZhenFund in April 2016.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "ZhenFund Invests in Online Children's English Education Site 'Vipkid'," MD 4/13/16 and "Online Children's English Education Site 'Vipkid' Wins USD 20 Mln Series B," MD 10/12/15 issues.
Keywords: online education mobile education M&A Alibaba Group BABA VC Internet funding distance learning Sequoia Capital Series C Yunfeng Capital Dami Technology Vipkid youth language learning Cindy Mi
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