Internet group Tencent has taken part in a $150m series E3 round for China-based online education provider Huohua Siwei that valued it at $1.5bn post-money, LatePost reported today.
Growth equity firm Trustbridge Partners led the tranche, which brought the company’s overall series E funding to $400m.
Huohua Siwei’s online education platform is focused on maths and science learning for a six-to-18 age group and had some 85,000 daily active users as of October 2020 when it secured $100m in a series E2 round led by Tencent and backed by tutoring service Yuanfudao and Carlyle Group.
The company had received $150m in series E1 round led by KKR two months earlier that included Longfor Capital, an investment vehicle for property developer Longfor Properties, as well as GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Sequoia Capital China and IDG Capital.
IDG Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners led a series A round of undisclosed size for Huohua Siwei in 2016 before it added $15m in a May 2018 series B round co-led by IDG Capital and Hike Capital.
Huohua Siwei received $20m the following month in a series B-plus round featuring Northern Light Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Hike Capital and GSR Ventures.
Longhu Capital and Northern Light Venture Capital co-led Huohua Siwei’s $40m series C round in March 2019, investing with Sequoia China, IDG Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Hike Capital and GSR Ventures.
The company raised $85m in a series D round co-led by KKR and GGV Capital in August the same year that included Longfor Properties subsidiary Longhu Capital, IDG Capital, Lightspeed China Partners, Northern Light Venture Capital, Sequoia China, Hike Capital and GSR Ventures.
Video streaming app developer Kuaishou subsequently provided $30m in series D-plus funding for Huohua Siwei in April 2020. It has now raised about $590m since it was founded in 2017.
