China’s VIPKID receives investment from Bryant Stibel
VIPKID, an English-language learning platform that connects North American teachers with students in China, has received an undisclosed investment from Bryant Stibel, a new VC firm launched by retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and his partner Jeff Stibel.
Bryant and Stibel, vice chairman at US business services company Dun & Bradstreet, have invested in 15 companies since 2013, but they decided to formalize their relationship and launch a $100 million VC fund with their own contribution, The Wall Street Journal reported. Current investments from the fund include The Players Tribune, Scopely, Legalzoom, RingDNA and Juicero.
VIPKID is Bryant Stibel's first investment in education, as well as the second investment in a Chinese company following their investment in Alibaba Group in 2014. Bryant said in a statement that it took him only five minutes of listening about VIPKID to decide he wanted to invest. "It's a no-brainer for me. We have to look for companies adding value to society, helping kids learn and grow," he said.
Established in 2013, VIPKID was incubated by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, a privately-owned Chinese school funded by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. The start-up recruits English-speaking teachers to provide one-on-one online tuition to Chinese children aged 5-12 years. Its live classes are based on the US Common Core State Standards.
VIPKID received RMB3 million ($473,000) in seed funding from Innovation Works in 2013. Matrix Partners China and Sequoia provided a $5 million Series A round the following year alongside Innovation Works. Northern Light Venture Capital then led a $20 million Series B round for the company in 2015, while ZhenFund made a follow-on investment in April. Earlier this month, VIPKID announced a $100 million Series C round led by Yunfeng Capital. Existing investor Sequoia Capital also took part.
VIPKID claims to have half a million registered students in China and some 2,500 instructors on its platform. More than 30,000 of these registered users pay for services.
With the new investment, VIPKID will accelerate the company's curriculum and product development, as well as improve user experience.
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