CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Japan-based games group, has invested in Mana.bo, an online whiteboard service, the third company in the segment to be added to its portfolio in less than a year.
Japan-based online learning service startup Mana.bo has raised Y38m ($374,000) in seed funding from several investors including CyberAgent Ventures, according to a Ventures News report. The deal has yet to be included on CyberAgent Ventures’ website at the time of writing.
Mana.bo provides a virtual, private tutoring service, helping students learn with a platform that enables whiteboard sharing, as well as audio and photo sharing. The start-up was chosen for inclusion in the third batch of the KDDI Mugen Labo incubation programme, where it also won the smart device award.
The deal marks yet another e-learning portfolio company for CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of gaming and social media company CyberAgent. The latest investment follows up from other investments made this year including Language Cloud, a US web and mobile platform designed to improve the way language teachers and students manage their courses and course materials. Other investors in the Language Cloud deal included Digital Garage, 500 Startups, Sunbridge Global Ventures, and angel investors.
In 2012, CyberAgent Ventures invested in in TutorGroup, a Taiwan and China-based company, which provides English E-learning service in both Mainland China and Taiwan. The investment was made through the CA-JAIC China Internet Fund II jointly managed by CyberAgent Ventures and Japan Asia Investment Co.
English language courses and E-Learning in Asia are equally growing rapidly as parents urge their children to learn English and to strive for a US or European education either abroad or at international schools in their domestic markets.
While China’s English education market was expected to reach $8.7bn at the end of 2012, CyberAgent Ventures said in a statement that it will continue to grow in the coming years. “Its online sector accounts for only less than 1%, which implies great growth potential,” said CyberAgent Ventures.