Shenzhen Qianhe leads $47m round for China education platform
Shenzhen Qianhe Capital, an investment firm set up by former leading Chinese mutual fund manager Yawei Wang, has led a RMB300 million ($47 million) Series B round for education group Uniquedu.
Existing backer Fosun Kinzon Capital also participated, the company said in a press conference.
Uniquedu began as a classic offline education service in 2010, focusing on training for software development and project management in mobile internet, cloud computing, internet marketing and Java programing.
The company moved online in 2013, launching a massive open online course (MOOC) platform. The MOOC model is like that of US online education platform Coursera. Students who finish courses on the platform receive certificates honored by partner universities and can be exchanged for credits towards a university degree.
Uniquedu is backed by several Chinese universities, including Beihang University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Dalian University of Technology, and Xiamen University.
Last year, the company received a $20 million in a Series A round led by Fosun Kinzon, in a bid to promote its online education portal. More recently, Unique has expanded into providing job search services for students and technology services for universities.
Headquartered in Beijing, Unique also has branches in Silicon Valley, Miami and Tokyo. It claims to have linked 800 schools and 200 enterprises to three million students. The new capital will be used to develop education products offered online, in addition to building an open-learning platform.
Shenzhen Qianhe was registered in 2012 in Qianhai, the economic development zone in Shenzhen. Wang, who earned a reputation as one of China's best stock pickers, formerly worked at China Asset Management.
Another industry player TutorGroup raised $200 million in a Series C round of funding from new investors including GIC Private, the Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF), Goldman Sachs and Silverlink Capital, alongside existing backers.
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