Inside ByteDance’s edtech expansion

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Hello readers,

Have you ever seen a mom drag a screaming kid to a tuition center? Because I’m that kid. I hated going to these extra classes and cried a ton on the way there. But that never deterred my Asian mom from signing me up for them – heck, I even had tuition for arts and crafts when I was young.

So when people say that there’s money to be made in edtech, you can bet your life I believe them. TikTok parent company ByteDance is also a believer – it has allocated over US$600 million to its online education-related efforts this year. With a lot of money to burn, can it produce a TikTok-equivalent in the edtech market?

Today we look at,

• ByteDance going all out in China’s cash-burning education sector
• Singapore’s first digital bank winners
• Other newsy highlights such as JD.com being the first to accept China’s digital yuan and one of Japan’s biggest VCs is eying India and China

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Can ByteDance’s investment in knowledge pay off?

ByteDance dipped its toes in education three years ago. This year, it is going full force. The company rebranded its edtech arm into Dali Education, which now has 10,000 employees, and moved its top executives – one of them being the co-founder of TikTok predecessor Musical.ly – to lead its education initiatives. Can ByteDance succeed?

• Move fast, learn fast? ByteDance is known to move fast into different verticals. In just three years, the company already has around 20 education products which include language tutoring platform GoGoKid and early childhood platform brand GuaGuaLong.
• Hits and misses: While ByteDance is able to move fast and launch products under four months, some of these services missed the mark. One brand reportedly slashed 70% of its staff last year, and another platform for live online classes stopped recruiting students not long after launching.
• The riches of learning: China’s online education market is huge, estimated at around US$63.6 billion this year. But the reality is that most players are unprofitable and burning millions of dollars to acquire users due to stiff competition. ByteDance knows this and said in July that its education business isn’t looking to become profitable for three years.

Read more: ByteDance’s 10,000-employee bet on the edtech bubble

NEWS SPOTLIGHT

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