Meishubao Education, a Chinese online art education platform, announced that it has raised $210 million in a Series D financing round led by private equity firm TPG Capital’s global impact investing platform The Rise Fund.
Other investors including Fortune Capital, Winsdom Capital, SAIF Partners, Bojia Capital, and Chuangzhi Capital also participated in the round, according to a statement.
Founded in 2014, Meishubao focuses on the field of art and delivers online art courses to over 5 million registered users across about 160 countries and regions worldwide. Of the over 5 million, more than 500,000 are paying users. The Beijing-based company is committed to using science and technology to promote the progress of art, integrating digital technology into teaching, and building a new environment for aesthetic education.
Meishubao has developed three major products including an online art education platform targeting children named Meishubao One-On-One, a smart campus app called Weixiao, and Meishubao, an art education app targeting art students and amateurs. Its online platform connects over 20,000 professional teachers, giving classes to users largely aged between three and 18. The company currently has a team of nearly 1,000 R&D and production staff.
Commenting on how the company will utilize the new proceeds, Gan Ling, Founder and CEO of Meishubao, said in a statement,
“Capital raised through this round of financing will be mainly used for curriculum development, channel and market expansion, product and service upgrades, branding, as well as online and offline business integration in the industrial internet area.”
The latest funding round follows Meishubao’s Series C round which was closed in July 2020. The round comprised two tranches of capital injections, including a $40-million Series C1 round in June 2019, and a $40-million Series C2 round this July. Both of the two tranches were led by Tencent Holdings.
Sun Chang, Managing Partner of TPG China, who oversees the investment activities of TPG and its Rise Fund in the region, commented on the investment,
“Inclusive education is one of the key areas of The Rise Fund’s social impact investment, and interactive education is an integral part of getting closer to that objective. As China’s leading art education platform, Meishubao Education leverages technologies to effectively expand the breadth and depth of art education. This model not only provides more interactive education opportunities for children – including those in rural areas – but also builds a larger platform for art educators to demonstrate their value.”
Meishubao has so far raised a total of 2 billion yuan ($306.2 million) across seven funding rounds. The Beijing-headquartered company counts Shunwei Capital, BlueRun Ventures, and BHG Long Hills Capital, among its earlier investors.
Meanwhile, the deal marks TPG’s Rise Fund’s fourth investment in Greater China. The San Francisco-based investment firm previously invested in microfinance provider CD Finance; Du Xiaoman Financial, a fintech spin-off from Chinese internet search giant Baidu; and plant-based food developer Green Monday Holdings.
Beijing-based investment bank Taihecap served as the exclusive financial advisor of the latest deal.
