Finally, 2020 is behind us, making EdTech an exciting industry for new age entrepreneurs, students, parents and investors. Over 40% of investment in EdTech globally has been raised by Chinese companies, building for the Chinese markets. Why should we learn from China EdTech market? Because Chinese players are a few steps ahead of the ROW and there are several things entrepreneurs can seek inspiration from, and implement.   

EdTech macro drivers in China:

• China’s per capita GDP: $10.2K, where as India’s per capita GDP: $2.1K; hence lower consumption power.

• India has bigger student population than China- 250M+.

• In India education is highly privatised with more than 50% students in private schools, unlike China.

• Government spending on Education in China: $700B+ whereas that was around $88B+ for India for 2019-20. Source 1, Source 2

• India’s EdTech Market was estimated to be $2.8B which is a fraction of market size in China ($58B) and users are still gaining access to internet and mobile devices.

It’s important to keep in mind the above differences and not blindly copy business models from China in India or ROW.

Public Listed EdTech Companies from China

Over 58 companies in education are publicly listed in China with a combined market cap of ~$162B.

After frequent request from my reader base, I have compiled a list of interesting Chinese EdTech companies, across segments. You can navigate to your area of interest.

Early/ Childhood Education

Kaishu Jiang Gu Shi (凯叔讲故事)

Brief: Audio podcast for children’s stories
USP: The stories are narrated by children’s favorite Uncle Kai, former presenter at China’s state-run TV Network
TG: 0-10 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $154M
Traction: 20K+ Audio/Video Content Files, 40M+ Users, $100M+ Revenue

Ji Li Gua La  (叽里呱啦)

Brief: English learning app for kids
USP: Gamified product based learning at affordable cost
TG: 0-8 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $120M+
Traction: 50M+ Users, 2M+ Paid Users, $100M+ Revenue

Hongen/ iHuman (洪恩)

Brief: App studio for children with apps teaching Chinese, English, Maths, etc.
USP: Gamification
TG: 3-8 years
Founded In: 2016
Traction: $800M+ Market Cap, $92M Revenue, 11M MAU

Ding Dong Ke Tang (叮咚课堂)

Brief: English learning app with teachers from North America
USP: Productized live class and adaptive learning at fraction of cost of live learning
TG: 2- 12 years
Founded In: 2018
Funding: $11.5M
Traction: 5M+ Users

Edutainment/ Toys for Kids

Make Block (童心制物)

Brief: Robotic Kits to Learn Coding
USP: B2B2C + B2C Distribution
TG: 3-16 years
Founded In: 2011
Funding: $81M
Traction: 140+ Countries, 25K+ Schools, 15M+ Users

Matata Labs

Brief: Robotic Kits to Learn Coding
USP: No Screen Time/ B2B2C + B2C Distribution
TG: 4- 9 years
Founded In: 2017
Funding: $4.2M

Online After School K12

Yuanfudao (猿辅导)

Brief: Online afterschool K12 platform with OCR doubt solving and live classes
USP: Products across age groups
TG: 0-18 years
Founded In: 2012
Funding: $4B
Traction: 400M+ Users, $1B+ Revenue
I’ve written about Yuanfudao in detail here

ZuoYe Bang (作业帮)

Brief: Online afterschool tutoring platform
USP: OCR Doubt Solving funnel
TG: 5-18 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $3B
Traction: 170M MAUs; 8M Paid Users

GSX (跟谁学)

Brief: Online after school tutoring platform
USP: Large class format live class (tier 2-4)
TG: 5-18 years
Founded In: 2014
Traction: $22B Market Cap, $1.1B Revenue

Zhangmen (掌门)

Brief: Online small class format after school tutoring platform
USP: One on one live class, Small group live class format, In-house teachers
TG: 5-18 years
Founded In: 2010
Traction: 40M+ Users

Timing 360

Brief: C2C platform for students to study together
USP: Self study app for students with gamification
TG: 8- 18 years
Founded In: 2017
Traction: 1M+ DAUs

Online Merged Offline After School K12

Xue Er Si/ TAL (学而思)

Brief: Online and offline education chain for K12
USP: Popular for Math coaching
TG: 2- 18 years
Founded In: 2003
Traction: Market Cap $40B, Revenue: $4B, 870+ Learning Centers

Xin Dong Fang/ New Oriental (新东方)

Brief: Online and offline education chain for K12 and language learning
USP: Popular for English learning
TG: 2- 18 years
Founded In: 1993
Traction: $28.2B Market Cap, $3.6B Revenue, 1520 Centers

Squirrel AI (松鼠AI）

Brief: Online Merged Offline AI Enabled Learning Classroom
USP: Adaptive Personalised Learning
TG: 5- 18 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $200M
Traction: 1700 Schools, 3K+ Teachers, 200+ Cities

I’ve written about OMO potential here.

Teacher’s Product

17ZuoYe (一起作业)

Brief: Platform for teachers to assign and review homework
USP: Upsells afterschool tutoring
TG: 5- 18 years
Founded In: 2011
Funding: $585M
Traction: $2B Market Cap, $296M Revenue, 20M MAUs
I’ve written in detail about 17ZuoYe here.

Classin/ EEO

Brief: Virtual Classroom Platform for Education Institutes
USP: Plug and play integration
TG: 5- 25 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $280M
Traction: 20K+ Institutes, 5M+ Teachers, 200M+ Classes

CCTalk (沪江)

Brief: Platform for teachers to sell courses
USP: Marketplace for teachers and courses
TG: 5-35 years
Founded In: 2009
Funding: $576M (Hujiang)

Extra Curricular Education

HuoHua SiWei (火花思维）

Brief: Online Math Learning Platform
USP: Overall Development of Children, AI Class and Live Class
TG: 3- 12 years
Founded In: 2016
Funding: $440M
Traction: 250K+ Monthly Paid Users, 80%+ Retention, $240M+ Revenue

VIP Think (豌豆思维)

Brief: Online Math Learning Platform
USP: Overall Development of Children, AI Class and Live Class
TG: 3- 9 years
Founded In: 2018
Funding: $200M
Traction: $300M+ Revenue, 85%+ Retention

Meishubao (美术宝)

Brief: Live online tutoring for art
USP: One on One format along with self-led class
TG: 4- 12 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $375M
Traction: $300M+ Revenue, 200K+ Paid Users
I’ve written in detail about Meishubao here.

VIP Peilian (VIP 陪练)

Brief: Live music learning platform
USP: High quality teachers, along with self-paced product
TG: 5- 16 years
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $165M
Traction: 2M+ Paid Subscribers, 30K+ Teachers, $360M+ Revenue
I’ve written in detail about VIP Peilian here.

CodeMao (编程猫)

Brief: Coding learning platform on proprietary tools like Kitten, etc.
USP: Distributing through schools and direct to customer
TG: 4- 16 years
Founded In: 2015
Funding: $360M
Traction: $360M+ Revenue, 17K+ Schools, 600+ Offline Centers

Live Language Learning

VIPKid

Brief: Live English tutoring platform
USP: Learn from North American teachers
TG: 3- 12 years
Founded In: 2013
Funding: $1B
Traction: ~$1B Revenue
I’ve written in detail about VIP Kid here.

51Talk

Brief: Live English tutoring platform
USP: Learn from Filipino teachers
TG: 3- 12 years
Founded In: 2011
Funding: $90M
Traction: $500M Market Cap, $273M Revenue

Higher Ed

Offcn Education (中公教育)

Brief: Vocational and recruitment exam training platform for public sector
USP: Offline and Online (OMO)
TG: 18 and above
Founded In: 1999
Traction: $22.6B Market Cap, $1.3B Revenue, $261M Profits

Luoji Siwei (罗辑思维)

Brief: Platform for online learning to cover applied skills, business, social sciences, etc.
USP: High quality professors
TG: 18+ and above
Founded In: 2014
Funding: $165M
Traction: $100M+ Revenue, $6M+ Profit, 300+ Courses

Sunlands（尚德机构)

Brief: Adult vocational and academic qualification examination preparation platform
USP: Post secondary and professional education
TG: 18 and above
Founded In: 2003
Funding: $90M
Traction: $200M Market Cap, $90M Revenue

Sanjieke (三节课)

Brief:Brief:Online training platform for product development roles
USP: Enterprise and consumer product
TG: 18 and above
Founded In: 2015
Funding: $20M
Traction: 300+ Corporate Clients

I know this one was a long read, but it would be a great exercise to go deeper into the models you find exciting and learn from them, keeping in mind the growth drivers of respective markets. I am available here: rahul@oldrope.club to receive your thoughts!