Tencent backs China enterprise training start-up
Yunxuetang, a Chinese online corporate training services provider, has raised more than $100 million in the first tranche of Series E round led by Tencent Holdings.
Yunxuetang claims to be the best-funded start-up in China's corporate training space, with more than $300 million raised since its inception in 2011.
It secured a $100 million Series D led by Centurium Capital in January 2020. This came two years after a $50 million Series C led by Yunfeng Capital. The Series B comprised two tranches - a $22 million commitment led by SIG and a RMB70 million ($10 million) extension led by Ximalaya, a local audio streaming platform.
Yunxuetang provides end-to-end training solutions including a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, teaching materials, and related services such as customized program development. It claims to serve more than 16 million learners, through a client network comprising 3,000 large corporates and 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Corporate customers include Tong Ren Tang, Lenovo, ByteDance, Meituan, and China Construction Bank.
“Enterprises urgently need digital learning solutions to help them transform online, but corporate training is not just a SaaS business, it also involves courses, consulting, and operations. This places extremely high requirements on players in the space,” says Leiwen Yao, a managing director of Tencent's strategic investment department.
China's enterprise training industry was worth RMB768.1 billion in 2020 and it will surpass RMB900 billion by 2025, according to Qianzhan Industry Research Institute. Though substantial in size, the space remains fragmented, without clear market leaders. This is expected to provide ample opportunities for consolidation.
Other relevant activity includes a $20 million Series C for 51CTO, an online technology training platform, last year. Meanwhile, vocational training services specialist Sanjieke raised an RMB130 million Series B in May 2019. Another player, Kaikeba, spun out from Huike Group and secured an RMB550 million Series A round.
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