Chinese cultural education business secures $21m Series B

Qinhan Hutong received a RMB100 million Series A round from Yicun Capital in January 2019. The new capital will be used to expand its offline footprint and develop classes for adults, according to a statement.

Founded in 2002, Qinhan Hutong primarily serves children aged 4-12, covering 20 subjects across art, poetry and general cultural education. Operating out of 70 branches in tier-one and tier-two cities, as well as online, it claims 50,000 family users. In addition, the company's online audio content has been downloaded more than 20 million times.

Revenue came to about RMB400 million in 2019. This includes RMB10 million from a new business line, launched last January, that targets female white-collar workers aged 22-45. The revenue contribution from this segment is expected to double in 2020.

Another new development is the rollout of franchised and joint venture locations in lower-tier cities. At present, all 70 branches are managed directly. However, the company believes that technological developments such as artificial intelligence have made online learning and offline franchising more feasible.

Art education is a niche market in China. In June last year, specialist education platform Yiqi Technology Group raised $40 million in the first tranche of a Series C round led by Tencent Holdings. It is said to be the largest-ever funding round for a start-up in the art education space.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Consumer
• China
• Education