China-based remote schooling provider Whales English closed a series B-plus round of undisclosed size on Saturday led by private education services provider New Oriental Education and Technology.
The size of the round was likely RMB120m ($18.6m), as the company said its overall series B funding now stands at RMB220, following a RMB100m ($14.2m at contemporary rates) series B round in February 2020.
Founded in 2012, Whales English is an online English language school targeted at three-to-18 year-olds in China. It has 50,000 registered students across 10,000 different classes, including classes adhering to the benchmark standard English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESL) teaching.
The fresh funding will go to refining Whales English’s products with a focus on Chinese children, including personal tuition with two students per class and larger sessions for its wider customer base.
The February 2020 series B round was led by alternative asset management firm Sino-Ocean Group Holding and backed by Hike Capital and Fresh Capital.
The company had received $10m in a 2018 series A round co-led by Fresh Capital and Hike Capital according to Crunchbase, the latter having invested $2.2m the previous year.