Chinese calligraphy tuition platform raises $28m
Hexiaoxiang, a Chinese online education service that teaches calligraphy to kindergarten and primary school children, has closed a Series B funding round worth RMB200 million ($28 million).
Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Sinovation Ventures, and a fund controlled by US-listed TAL Education Group led the round. Existing investors Vision Plus Capital, GSR Ventures, Engage Capital, Zhizhuo Capital all re-upped.
Hexiaoxiang was founded in 2017 by executives from Alibaba Group's technology team. Unlike many online education start-ups, its product offering is not exam-oriented. The company helps 3-12 year-olds improve their Chinese calligraphy, employing more than 1,000 tutors. It claims to have more than two million students.
The new capital will go towards upgrading Hexiaoxiang's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Courses are pre-recorded by well-known teachers with tutors providing one-to-one support. Students take photos of their homework and upload them to the platform. AI image recognition enables one tutor to work with 400 students, according to the company.
Hexiaoxiang also offers classes in Chinese reading and ancient Chinese poetry, with AI used to offer immediate evaluation of students' pronunciation efforts.
Using data collected from its educational activities, the company hopes to move faster than competitors in developing products that meet the needs of the market. There are plans to expand into other areas - such as painting, music, and history - but without entering the exam preparation space.
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