China-based EdTech startup Yuanfudao raises US$2.2 billion in funding for its online education platform; making it the world’s most valuable EdTech company

Yuanfudao, China’s leading online education platform announced it has secured $2.2 billion Series G1 and G2 funding to further boost its educational technology innovation, accelerate new curriculum product development and expand its online education service system.

The G1 financing round was led by Tencent, with participation from Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, and IDG Capital. The G2 financing round was led by DST Global, with participation from CITICPE, GIC, Temasek, TBP, DCP, Ocean Link, Greenwoods, and Danhe Capital. The new funding brings the Yuanfudao’s valuation to $15.5 billion, making it the most valuable technology-driven education unicorns in the world.

Founded in 2012 Shuai Ke, Xin Li, and Yong Li, Yuanfudao is China’s leading online education platform that currently provides K-12 after-school tutoring, pre-school enlightenment, and adult education services to over 400 million users across China. Yuanfudao offers a comprehensive curriculum spanning from primary school English, Mathematical Olympiad to all-subject courses in secondary school. Its unique online feature and a large pool of quality teachers enable students to access live online tutoring at home taught by national renowned teachers, benefiting hundreds of thousands of students across the country.

Yuanfudao is the leading brand for China’s primary and secondary school online courses, while Zebra AI Class is the largest online course platform for preschool education in China. As of today, these two major online course platforms currently approximately 3.7 million students using their regular-priced courses, making Yuanfudao the largest online education company in China by the number of students.

Headquartered in Beijing, Yuanfudao has established a number of teaching & research centers and branches across China, including in Wuhan, Xi’an, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Jinan, Changsha, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Changchun, and Hefei with more than 30,000 employees. In March 2020, Yuanfudao announced that it would create 10,000 jobs across China and 5,000 jobs in Wuhan to support COVID-19 recovery efforts, as a part of the Company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.