NetEase Youdao Secures Strategic Funding at USD 1.1 Bln Valuation
Beijing Business Today, 4/17/18
Online search engine and mobile internet application service provider NetEase Youdao Computer System, a subsidiary of Chinese internet company NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES), recently announced the completion of its first strategic funding led by Muhua Jinxin Investment Management with participation from Legend Capital at a post-money valuation of USD 1.1 bln. NetEase Youdao is NetEase's third independently funded brand after NetEase Cloud Music and pork production and sales firm Weiyang Technology.
The funding will primarily be used to create quality course content and invest more in educational technology R&D to give users better quality and richer experience, according to NetEase senior VP and Youdao CEO Zhou Feng.
NetEase Youdao operates a number of educational tools and online learning products, including online dictionary Youdao Dictionary, online education platform Youdao Jingpinke, online translation service Youdao Translation, and cloud note-taking application Youdao Cloudnote. Youdao currently has 800 mln users altogether and Youdao Dictionary just broke the 700 mln user mark in early 2018. As of December 2017, Youdao's mobile apps formed a product matrix with 17 mln daily active users. User fee revenue grew 530% from 2016 to 2017.
Keywords: VC NetEase dictionary Internet funding valuation online search online education Youdao Legend Capital Zhou Feng NTES Cloudnote Muhua Jinxin personal cloud storage
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