China’s Leading Online Educational Platform Knowbox Secures $150 Million from Alibaba
Knowbox, the leading online education platform of China, raised capital worth $150 million from tech juggernaut Alibaba in a Series D financial round.
The Beijing-based educational startup was established in 2014. It had previously secured capital from leading investors, which included JD founder Richard Liu, TAL Education, Legend Star and YF Capital.
Knowbox is best known for its internet-based mathematics test bank that it offers to students, teachers and parents. The firm teaches mathematics via contests and games.
The founder of Knowbox, Liu Ye stated in an interview during April that the firm wished to reinvent education through technology, such as artificial intelligence to make education easier for students and more affordable. Currently, there are over 3.6 million regular active users.
In an address to the Global Education Summit, Liu explained that Knowbox products are currently being used at 70 percent primary schools in China to grade and assign homework.
During April 2019, the shareholders of the holding company of Knowbox had been changed. Dongchen Investment and Liu Qiangdong had withdrawn as shareholders. It was thought that a crisis would ensue and the educational startup would not last long. However, Knowbox is making good progress with a recent equity injection by Alibaba.
During July 2015, Knowbox secured $10 million via Series A funding round that included angel investor Lenovo, Liu Qiangdong and Good TAL.
In February 2018, Knowbox raised an investment amount of $100 million in a Series C funding round. Leading investors included YF Capital, Good TAL and TH Capital. Thus far, this was the biggest ever investment raised by the education startup until the current round.
Knowbox employs big data and digital technology, including AI to customize education lessons for students. The company aims to promote education and improve academic performance through smart education powered by its AI app. The app employs a suite of tools to help students tackle homework and ensure progress.
The company released data in November 2018, indicating that registered users were 40 million. Knowbox app is being used in at least 100,000 schools spread across 500 cities within 31 provinces.
Data from iResearch indicates that despite problems faced by the Chinese economy, online education will surge to about $22 billion till 2022.
Knowbox is also playing a key role in popularizing AI education. Liu Ye believes that AI can be used to improve academic progress in areas where students lag behind.