PR87484

BEIJING, Jan. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Zuoyebang, China's leading online after school education start-up, has raised

over US$1.6 Billion in its Series E+ financing from investors including

Alibaba, Tiger Global, Softbank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital China,

Fountainvest Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario

Teachers'). Taihecap was Zuoyebang's financial advisor for this round of fundraising.

With the new capital, Zuoyebang will continue to focus on developing its core

business of live streaming courses, enhancing its strength in after school

education technology and market penetration capabilities, and investing to

strengthen and expand its existing product portfolios.

Hou Jianbin, founder and CEO of Zuoyebang, said, "Making quality education

accessible to all has been Zuoyebang's mission since our inception. It drives

our growth and continuous efforts to maintain our leading position in

innovation, penetration and scale. The online after school education sector in

China is moving into a new phase of development which urges leading players to

define the market with high-quality, innovative and sustainable growth. The new

capital will enable Zuoyebang to accelerate our growth, going from strength to

strength, and to provide better education resources to meet the huge demand in

the Chinese market."  

Earlier in June 2020, Zuoyebang completed US$750 million in Series E funding,

joined by leading international venture investors including Fountainvest

Partners, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital China, SoftBank's Vision Fund,

Primavera Capital, GGV Capital, Xiang He Capital, Tiantu Capital, and Taihecap.

Since it was established in 2015, Zuoyebang has grown into a leader in China's

online after school education sector. Driven by its innovative technology and

the largest online question database globally in the sector – with over 300

million questions – the company provides all-round digital solutions via its

popular after school education apps that complement the existing public

education curriculum. These include Zuoyebang Super App, Zuoyebang Live Courses

App, Zuoyebang Oral Arithmetic Calculation App, and YAYA AI Courses App.

Notably, by integrating AI-enabled functions to give users one-stop access to

the whole suite of Zuoyebang products and services, the flagship Zuoyebang

Super App remains in top place in the education category of the China Apple App

Store, with more than 100 million monthly active users. Zuoyebang's Paperang

Printer, a smart hardware device providing leading error-management solutions

which has gained over 7.5 million registered users, also continues to lead

market share in its category in China.  

Zuoyebang has the largest user base in China's online after school education

market with more than 50 million daily active users, 170 million monthly active

users, and 800 million user-registered devices in total. In the 2020 fall

semester, the number of enrolled users for Zuoyebang's live streaming courses

reached a record high of 10 million across the industry, while the number of

regular full length classes' users has also increased, representing a growth of

more than 24 times in the past three years – 70% of them from more remote third

or lower tier cities.

Zuoyebang's sustainable growth comes from its user scale advantage, strong

geographical penetration, outstanding operational efficiency, and systematic

quality control. In addition, its overall customer acquisition cost is lowest

among peers and less than half of the industry average.

Zuoyebang employs over 35,000 staff in China. Headquartered in Beijing, the

company has expanded its footprint and now has 11 branches across the country

including in Xi'an, Hefei, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Jinan,

Changsha, Nanjing, and Shijiazhuang.

About Zuoyebang

Founded in 2015, Zuoyebang is the largest online after school education

start-up in China, offering a comprehensive suite of online tutoring products

and services for students covering all academic subjects. With the mission of

"making quality education accessible to all," the company is a

technology-driven online after school education services provider that

addresses the unmet needs in China's after school education market by

increasing the coverage and penetration of quality online after school tutoring

across the country.

SOURCE  Zuoyebang