Competition among China’s leading online education platforms has significantly increased this year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zuoyebang recently announced a substantial funding achievement, securing $1.6 billion in its Series E+ round with investment from Alibaba Group and others. Additional investors in this round included Tiger Global Management, SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital China, and FountainVest Partners.

This announcement from Zuoyebang follows closely on the heels of its $750 million Series E funding, which was completed six months prior with leadership from Tiger Global and FountainVest. With this latest investment, the total funding received by Zuoyebang now amounts to $2.93 billion. While the company has not revealed its current valuation, reports from Reuters in September indicated a potential valuation of $10 billion during this fundraising effort.

Zuoyebang’s primary competitor, Yuanfudao, reported a $15.5 billion valuation in October after completing a $2.2 billion funding round spearheaded by Tencent. This advancement positioned Yuanfudao as the world’s most highly valued edtech company, surpassing Byju. Another well-known online learning platform in China is Yiqizuoye, which benefits from backing by Temasek of Singapore.

Zuoyebang provides a range of educational resources, including online courses, interactive live classes, and assistance with homework, catering to students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The company reports approximately 170 million monthly active users, with around 50 million utilizing the service on a daily basis. For context, the Ministry of Education data from 2019 indicated a total of roughly 200 million K-12 students in China.

During the fall of 2020, Zuoyebang’s paid livestream courses attracted over 10 million students, establishing a new benchmark within the industry, according to the company. While the pandemic contributed to this growth, Zuoyebang’s founder, Hou Jianbin, stated in the funding announcement that the company anticipates continued expansion in the online education sector and plans to invest further in K-12 offerings while diversifying its product range.