China's Makeblock gets $30m Series B round
Evolution Media China (EMC) and Shenzhen Capital Group have led a $30 million Series B round for Shenzhen-based education and robotics start-up Makeblock.
The company will use the new capital to support product development initiatives and improve the distribution network for its educational materials, according to a release. It will also open offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, North America, Japan and the Netherlands, and launch its first annual robotics competition by the end of 2017.
Makeblock makes DIY robot construction kits for professionals, hobbyists, students and educators, containing mechanical parts of its own design along with assembly instructions and programming software. The kits - part of the company’s broader science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational platform - are available in more than 140 countries. Makeblock claims its products are used in 20,000 schools worldwide.
This is Makeblock’s largest funding round to date, according to AVCJ Research, which shows several rounds since the company’s founding in 2011. In the company’s 2014 Series A round Sequoia Capital China committed $6 million. The prior year Makeblock raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Northern Light Venture Capital and Beijing Tianyun Lianying Investment Management.
“STEM education is the next industry to experience deep disruption, following in the footsteps of the mobile, IoT and virtual reality industries,” said EMC President Jason Ding. “Over the past few years, Makeblock has been leading the charge in creating STEM education products in the classroom and at home. We believe this is just the beginning of their path to transforming education."
EMC, founded last year, is the China investment arm of US-based Evolution Media Partners, which supports start-ups in the entertainment, media, sports, technology and lifestyle sectors. Evolution’s technology investments include US-based virtual reality technology developer Jaunt, whose backers also include China Media Capital and TPG Growth.
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