English
Alibaba, Tiger Global Management, Softbank Vision Fund, FountainVest Partners, and Sequoia Capital China have invested $1.6 billion in Chinese start-up Zuoyebang. The company offers distance learning for school children.
Zuoyebang, a subsidiary of the search engine Baidu, allows you to stream classes online for students, chat with the teacher, and send (and even explain) homework. According to Zuoyebang representatives, more than fifty million students use the platform daily. It is expected that the investment of a group of companies led by Alibaba will help the service catch up and overtake its main competitor - the Yuanfudao platform, whose capitalisation reaches $15.5 billion.
Investing in educational products is considered one of the best choices for Chinese investors. Since the beginning of 2020, online learning start-ups have raised over $7.3 billion in investments. According to forecasts, by the end of 2021, the Chinese online education market will reach $48 billion.
