Taiwanese edtech firm raises $15.5m in series A money

AmazingTalker, a Taiwan-based edtech firm, has raised US$15.5 million in a series A funding round, led by CDIB Capital. Investors in the fundraise also include JAFCO Asia and 500 Global.

Team AmazingTalker / Photo credit: AmazingTalker

AmazingTalker runs a tutor-matching platform focused on language learning. Students can browse the company’s roster of instructors and choose one based on their preferences, though they can also opt to change to another teacher if they are not satisfied with the training they’ve received.

The firm, which promises a better profit-sharing system for its instructors, also offers K-12 education services for children.

AmazingTalker co-founder and CEO Abner Chao told Tech in Asia that he started the platform in 2016 with an objective to make online English-language learning more accessible and to empower teachers to make more income from online lessons.

At the time, online programs for English cost up to 200,000 Taiwanese dollars (US$7,000), making them an unaffordable option for many people, he added.

Chao also pointed out that the online English learning market was then dominated by online education firm TutorABC, which set the fees that tutors could charge. Chao had previously worked at the company as a sales manager.

Over the years, AmazingTalker received a positive response, he said. To date, it has nearly 8,000 registered tutors and 1.1 million registered users and has clocked in 5.5 million online course reservations.

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According to the CEO, Taiwan and Hong Kong cumulatively account for 60% of its total user base, though nearly 8% to 10% of users are from the US. The company is also witnessing an increasing number of students coming from China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

AmazingTalker plans to use the fresh capital to increase its team size – it now has 110 employees spread across Taipei and Hong Kong – and hire for product managers and developers specifically. The firm will also expand its business in Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, Europe, and North America.

Chao said that the company will tailor its services to newer markets as well. For instance, in countries where English is the native language, AmazingTalker will focus on K-12 education. In non-English-speaking markets, it will continue to push its language-learning services.

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He believes the two-pronged approach is important to achieve scalability.