HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Snapask, a Hong Kong based edtech startup has raised US$5M (HK$39M) in Pre-Series A venture funding to expand its mobile education business into Southeast Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. By applying artificial intelligence techniques to its on demand education services, Snapask has doubled its user base since Q4 of 2016, reaching 300,000 users across Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Snapask aims to become the first global edtech company by 2020.
Kejora Ventures, backed by the Charoen Pokphand Family, Mr. Cai Wensheng, Chariman of Meitu, and Welight Capital, founded by former Tencent executives, participated in this funding round. This brings total funding at Snapask to US$8M, including seed funding from Singapore Press Holdings and Plug & Play.
"Currently we are focusing on expanding into Southeast Asian markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. We hope to provide our service to the 4,000,000 student population in the SEA region within Q2, and to that of Australia and the United Kingdom in Q3. When developing a new market, we insist on recruiting a local team as they understand their local market best. The fresh capital will therefore be used primarily on local talent acquisition," explained Timothy Yu, Founder and CEO of Snapask.
The 3 parties represent support from China's startup sector, technology sector and SEA business sector respectively. Their confidence in Snapask's Southeast Asia markets stems from the combined population of 645 million and a strong demand for education support. Kejora Ventures Founding Partner Sebastian Togelang explained that beyond providing funding and mentorship, Kejora will offer local, on-the-ground market entry expertise.
Mr. Wu Xiaoguang, co-founder of Welight Capital, former SVP at Tencent, expressed that the passion and spirit of the Snapask team was a strong reason for investment. He believes that Snapask's ability to adapt and create is key to success in a competitive market, and looks forward to a new era of digital learning at Snapask with the application of machine learning techniques.
Snapask
Founded in 2015, Snapask is an education technology company that applies artificial intelligence, and cloud services to make education more effective, personalized, and accessible to everyone.
Snapask started out initially with our flagship "Question & Answer" (Q&A) platform, which allows students to obtain instant homework help from our tutors. Our range of products have since expanded to include the "Quizzes" feature, a platform that digitizes academic content, which our students can access for free. Currently, there are over 17,000 qualified tutors on Snapask, seeking to help close to 300,000 students across Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
Vision and Mission: http://snapa.sk/2rCNSeL
Kejora Ventures
Kejora invests and guides passionate founders in building successful and high-growth tech companies. Providing entrepreneurs with the right network of strategic partners and resources, Kejora, focusing on Pre-A series funding, enables startups to scale in a rapid pace throughout Southeast Asia.
Mr. Cai Wensheng
Mr. Cai Wensheng, Chairman of Meitu Inc., is an entrepreneur and renowned investor in the Internet and technology industry in China. He established 265.com Inc. (sold to Google in 2007) in August 2004. Mr. Cai has invested in over 19 technology start-ups to date, including Meitu Inc., 58.com Inc., and Feiyu Technology International.
Welight Capital
Co-Founded by Chief Technology Officer Mr. Tony Zhang and the former senior vice president and chief executive of e-commerce for Tencent Mr. Wu Xiaoguang in 2015. The VC currently focuses on angel investing and has supported 30 start-ups, 4 of which come from Hong Kong, including travel booking platform Klook.
Press Enquiries:
Ingrid Chung
Phone: +852 6287 3287
Email: ingrid@snapask.co
