Chinese financial education start-up raises $100m

Prospect Avenue Capital (PAC), a late-stage technology investor, led Series D which features existing investor Qiming Venture Partners. The Series E was led by Xiangzhi Capital, an industry investment arm under education giant New Oriental Education & Technology Group. Lingfeng Capital, Qiming, and PAC also participated in this round.

Founded in 2017, Erwan offers wealth management and investment education services through live broadcasts and podcasts covering areas such as insurance, investment funds, and listed securities. It claims more than 10 million users across three brands.

“Our goal is to popularize the basic knowledge of financial investment among Chinese people, to guide them in establishing correct consumption concepts and values, to improve their awareness of financial risk, and to improve their wealth management capabilities,” the company said in a statement.

Erwan has adopted the double-teacher system used in K-12 large class education formats. A teacher gives lectures while a tutor is in charge of daily communication with students. The platform has also developed content distributed through one-to-one private courses and artificial intelligence-driven interactive courses.

“With the continuous growth of household savings and disposable income in China, people’s awareness of wealth management has gradually increased. There is a strong demand for high-quality financial education to help people to avoid blind investment and identify the risk. The pandemic has further awakened awareness of the importance of wealth preservation," said Zheng Zhao, general manager of New Oriental Industry Fund.

Erwan’s early investors include K2VC and DCM Ventures. 

 

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• Financials
• China
• Education
• Qiming Venture Partners
• DCM-Doll Capital Management