Palfish, the China-based operator of an online platform for English language teaching, has received $120m in a series C round featuring quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG), China Money Network reported today.
The round was co-led by private equity firm FutureX Capital and Zhang Zao, founder of local listings portal Meituan Dianping, and included venture capital firm Whales Capital.
Founded in 2015, Palfish runs an online service that teaches English to children up to 14 years old. Its offering ranges from picture books for younger pupils to one-on-one online lessons with overseas teachers, and textbooks for more advanced students.
The company has reportedly grown its user base to 40 million, more than 1.6 million of which have subscribed to a premium offering. It plans to use the series C funding to develop additional products and to improve its teaching capabilities by exploiting big data technologies.
Whales Capital had previously led a series B round of undisclosed size for Palfish in 2018 according to JMDedu, and China Money Network also identified SIG as a returning shareholder in the latest round. Further details of its past funding could not confirmed.
