Banyan leads round for China education courses platform

Financial terms were not disclosed but the round amounted to tens of millions of dollars. GSR previously provided angel funding to the company.

Operated by Guangzhou Senji Software Technology, Lizhiweike was launched last year on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat platform. It allows individuals and educational institutions to provide paid courses across a number of subjects, from foreign languages to healthcare. The platform has more than 800,000 registered teachers and organizations and has seven million followers on its WeChat account.

More than 70% of Lizhiweike's audience are females aged 30-40. The company wants to monetize this user group by providing more personal development teaching materials and inviting experts to host online talk shows. The proceeds from the latest funding round will also be also used to expand the company's product offering, including publishing books based on its online courses.

Lizhiweike faces competition from question-and-answer platform Zhihu, which raised a $100 million round earlier this year, and has launched Zhihu Live to allow professionals to host online live sessions to paid audiences.

Banyan recently raised $725 million for its latest US dollar and renminbi-denominated vehicles.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Media
• Early-stage
• Technology
• China
• TMT
• Venture
• Banyan Capital
• GSR Ventures