Sequoia-backed Chinese edtech startup bags $100m in Tencent-led round

Chinese edtech startup Jiliguala announced it has raised nearly US$100 million in a series C round led by Tencent and Trustbridge Partners.

Photo credit: Jiliguala

Founded in 2014, Jiliguala provides online English classes for children up to 12 years old. The company helps kids learn English through media such as animation, music, and picture books, and also developed artificial intelligence-driven online interactive classrooms.

Most recently, the edtech firm formed a partnership with US book publisher Penguin Random House to create an AI-powered tutoring product.

The company said it plans to use the fresh capital to help launch new products, focusing on formative education.

Internet and AI allow for the development of products in the edtech space, which addresses an unbalanced distribution of educational resources in China, said the firm in a statement. A Daxue Consulting report estimated that the Chinese edtech market reached 453.8 billion yuan (US$69.6 billion) in 2020, a 12.3% increase from the previous year.

Major players in the space include Yuanfudao, which reportedly raised US$300 million from Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital in December 2020, VIPKid, which is backed by Tencent and Sequoia Capital China, as well as DaDa, which secured US$255 million in a series D round led by Warburg Pincus in January 2019.

Prior to the round, Jiliguala closed its pre-series A round from Gene Capital and Yonghua Capital in 2016. Two years later, it bagged tens of millions of yuan from Sequoia Capital China and Bertelsmann Asia Investment in a series B round.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.48 yuan.