Banyan leads $50m Series A for China education platform
Banyan Capital has led a $50 million Series A round of funding for Genshuixue, committing $41 million to the online education platform.
The round, which was completed in last December, values the start-up at $250 million. Employees from Genshuixue contributed the remaining $9 million, alongside with existing backer QF Capital and two other unnamed institutional investors, the company said.
Launched in last June, Genshixue allows users to find personal tutors online, covering a variety of subjects from piano to exam preparation. The platform details teachers' professional qualifications and even features promotional videos. Registration and payment for classes can be completed online.
The company has already signed up more than 70,000 teachers who offer classes to millions of students.
Genshixue recently added two features to its product offering: Zaixian Ketang, through which classes can be taught online through real-time video; and Juhuixue, a platform for discounted online and offline classes.
The new capital will be used to scale up the business in the online-to-offline (O2O) space, which includes K-12 education and efforts to take school syllabuses online, Xiangdong Chen, Genshuixue's founder, told local media.
Online education is increasingly popular among VC investors. CMC Capital Partners and New Horizon Capital recently co-led a $60 million Series D round for Yuantiku, an online database of test exams for college and high school students, while ChinaEquity led a Series B round for Juesheng.com, an education-focused online marketplace.
Last month, H Capital led a $100 million Series D round for 17zuoye.com, a Chinese K-12 online learning and teaching platform. Singapore's Temasek Holdings, DST Advisors and Shunwei Capital Partners also took part in the round.
Banyan closed its second US dollar-denominated fund at $362 million in January. The VC firm's debut vehicle closed at $206 million less than 12 months earlier.
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