Tencent invests further in Chinese online tutor Yuanfudao

Tencent Holdings has joined hands with other investors to crown China’s latest “unicorn”, by pitching in on a new round of financing that increased the valuation of online tutoring firm Yuanfudao to more than US$1 billion.

The funding is by far the largest in China’s online tutoring industry, and a move that makes Yuanfudao China’s latest unicorn that provides online education solutions, said the company in a statement.

With a name that directly translates as “ape coach”, Yuanfudao competes against a dozen of Chinese online education unicorns, tapping on internet technology to efficiently capitalise on the desires of Chinese tiger parents to provide their kids with a head start in education.

“We are strong believers in the wider adoption of online learning with the growing number of internet-savvy young parents, and we are glad that our investors share the same vision,” said Li Yong, chief executive officer of Yuanfudao, in the statement.

With more than 1 million paid users, Yuanfudao offers a comprehensive curriculum spanning from primary school English to Mathematical Olympiad and all-subject courses in secondary schools. Its large pool of instructors allows students across China to access one-on-one live online tutoring at home taught by renowned teachers in the country.