Education startup company Mana.bo nets $3M to expand

Mana.bo, the company providing real-time tutoring help via a virtual whiteboard, today informed Tech in Asia that it has raised JPY 330 million (US$3.07 million) in series A funding from Bennesse Holdings, Nissay Capital, and MUFJ Capital. The funding comes after a US$374,000 round, led by CyberAgent Ventures, in May last year.

The startup’s new cash is earmarked for marketing, launching a business-to-consumer (B2C) division, and development on new features. Finance director Koichi Tsunoda says that the company has hired “a dream-team of engineers.”

He also noted that one new feature is for incorporating third-party entities into the business model. Mana.bo wants to generate revenue by monetizing its ability to provide and manage tutors and students.

The B2C initiative, which will start from October, is notable as Mana.bo’s clients have so far only been students attending classes via Bennesse. Aside from its investment activity, Bennesse is a well-established correspondence education and textbook provider.

Mana.bo has found traction in Japan by offering tutoring services in a manner more tailored to student needs. When a user has a question about a particularly difficult problem, he or she can message a Mana.bo tutor. When the tutors are available, they will set up a voice or text conversation and explain the key to the problem while demonstrating on the digital whiteboard.

Mana.bo does not currently disclose the number of tutors or students it has but it has set a goal of serving one million students in the future. It has plenty of competition in that space. Study prep programs are a US$10 billion industry in Japan and startups such as Arcterus and ClassDo are also eager to get a slice of the pie.

See: Mana.bo wants to shake up the Japanese cram school industry with online tutoring