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In this Asia edition of EdTech Funding News we cover rounds that took place in June and July.
Fliplingo, a translation service for Twitter raised a $150k Seed Round. PhilSmile, an education payment service for Filipino overseas workers raised an undisclosed amount of seed investment. Chinese test prep platform Wanxue raised an undisclosed Series C, probably in the tens of millions range. Yuantiku, another Chinese test prep platform, raised a $15 million Series C. Last but not least, Taamkru, a developer of web and mobile apps for pre-schoolers out of Thailand, raised a $620k Seed Round.
Twitter Translation Service Fliplingo raises $150k Seed Round
Though translation startups are not 100% edtech we at EDUKWEST have always counted them into the bigger realm of language learning. Fliplingo is a service dedicated to translating tweets into multiple languages, enabling brands or personalities to engage with their fans and followers in their native language.
The startup offers everyone a free report, showing how international ones followers are and which languages they speak. Fliplingo supports 30 languages and tweets are translated by a human within 15 minutes and then scheduled to make the most impact among the followers who are targeted.
According to Tech in Asia, Fliplingo will relocate to Europe later this year which was the petri dish for other startups in the space like Babelverse or Transfluent. Fliplingo raised $150k internally from its team members.
Further Reading
- After lengthy beta and now with seed funding, Fliplingo launches Twitter translation service | Tech in Asia
Links
fliplingo.com | Twitter | Facebook
Education Payment Service PhilSmile raises Seed Round
Giving the next generation better opportunities through good education plays a major role in remittances; according to Tech in Asia about 5% of the $25 billion USD send home by Filipino workers was spent on education, which is around $1.3 billion USD.
Related: Read our report on the multi billion dollar remittance market.
The startup raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Eric Barbier, the founder and CEO of remittance service TransferTo. Through PhilSmile, overseas workers can pay for the school fees of their children or other family members directly, removing the need of a third party payment provider.
Payments can either be made for a whole year or in small weekly chunks. Through the investment, PhilSmile will be able to tab into TransferTo’s network of merchants who offer more than 200.000 points of sale in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, the US, the UK and Dubai.
Further Reading
- Filipinos living overseas now have a more convenient way to pay for their families’ education back home | Tech in Asia
Links
philsmile.com | Twitter | Facebook
Test Prep Platform Wanxue raises Series C led by Baidu
Chinese test prep service Wanxue, also known as Universal Education Group, has raised an undisclosed Series C led by Baidu with participation of HAO Capital and Doll Capital Management. Yicai.com estimates the round in the tens of millions of dollars.
Founded in 2006, Wanxue specializes in test prep for different exams like the China Graduate Admission Test and civil service exams. Wanxue previously raised two $20 million rounds in 2008 and 2011. With the latest round, Wanxue moved to a new domain under Baidu’s education portal reports TechNode.
Further Reading
- Baidu invests in test prep site as China’s internet giants vie for quality education content | Tech in Asia
- Test Prep Service Wanxue Education Takes in Series C Funding Led by Baidu | TechNode
Links
Exam Database Yuantiku raises $15 million Series C
Yuantiku, another Chinese edtech startup in the exam and test prep space, raised a $15 million Series C from existing investors Matrix Partners China and IDG.
Founded in 2012, Yuantiku has over 1.5 million users who learn through its smart database that features questions from previous exams and other related content. Besides catering the K-12 market, Yuantiku offers test prep for civil servants, postgraduates and a variety of job placements.
The startup previously raised a $2.2 million Series A in 2012 and a $7 million Series B in 2013, reports TechNode.
Further Reading
- Online Smart Exam Database Yuantiku Lands US$15M of Series C Funding | TechNode
Links
E-Learning Startup Taamkru raises $620k Seed Round
Taamkru, an edtech startup out of Thailand that creates web and mobile apps for pre-schoolers, raised a $620k Seed Round led by 500 Startups and participation of M&S Partners, IMJ Investment Partners, Ookbee, and Red Dot Ventures.
The startup aims to improve the ‘disgracefully bad’ education system in Thailand which ranks 8 out of 10 in Southeast Asia. According to Tech in Asia, the startup has 100.000 active monthly users. Through the apps children can participate in competitions and parents can monitor their learning progress and compare it with data gathered from other regions.
Further Reading
- Taamkru plans to fix Thailand’s ‘disgracefully bad’ education system, raises seed money | Tech in Asia
- Thailand’s Taamkru raises US$620K in seed funding led by 500 Startups | e27