Rise Fund leads Series D for Chinese art tuition platform
The Rise Fund, TPG’s impact investment vehicle, has led a $210 million Series D round of funding for Meishubao, a China-based online art education platform.
Other investors include Fortune Capital, Winsdom Capital, SAIF Partners, Bojia Capital, and Chuangzhi Capital. Six months ago, the company secured $40 million in a Series C extension led by Tencent Holdings and featuring Shunwei Capital, BlueRun Ventures, BHG Long Hills Capital, and Chuangzhi. Tencent took on the same role in the Series C, which was also worth $40 million.
BlueRun and Shunwei were the first investors in Meishubao, contributing RMB30 million ($4.5 million) in 2014. This was followed by three-tranche Series B. The first two, amounting to RMB100 million, closed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. BHG Long Hills Capital then led the $15 million third tranche in 2018.
The company has raised more than RMB2 billion in total since its establishment in 2014. Other backers include Hony Capital, Holly Capital, Mulberry Capital, Welight Capital, and Balance Capital.
Meishubao was initially an online community for students preparing for the painting section of the art college entrance examination. In 2017, it launched a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for offline art education institutions, which helps with student enrollment and course development. The following year, a one-to-one education service was introduced - essentially a painting-oriented version of VIPKid that targets parents who want their children to have a more rounded education.
The service has since been expanded to include small-class online painting programs – aimed at students aged 3-18 – matching the offering of industry rival Hualala. Earlier this year, Meishubao introduced an artificial intelligence-enabled interactive class called Xiaoxiongmeishu or Little Bear.
The company claims to have an internal content production team of 1,000 people and more than 20,000 online teachers. It serves over five million registered users, including 500,000 paying students, in more than 160 countries and regions. At the time of the Series C extension, there were 200,000 paying students and average monthly revenue was RMB200 million.
The new capital will go towards curriculum development, channel and market development, product and service upgrades, branding, and the integration of online and offline business functions.
“As China’s leading art education platform, Meishubao leverages advanced technologies to effectively expand the breadth and depth of art education. This model not only provides more interactive education opportunities for children – including those in rural areas – but also builds a larger platform for art educators to demonstrate their value,” said Chang Sun, China managing partner at TPG, who also oversees The Rise Fund in the region.
The first iteration of The Rise Fund closed at $2 billion in 2017 and the second launched with a target of $2.5 billion. It now claims to have more than $5 billion in assets across the platform. There have been three other investments in China: financial technology businesses CD Finance and Du Xiaoman Financial, and plant-based protein provider Green Monday Holdings. Inclusive education is part of The Rise Fund’s mandate and it has backed several education companies in other parts of the world.
Taihecap served as the exclusive financial advisor for Meishubao’s Series D.
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