Education Data Insights (Mid-Year 2020)

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A spike in VC deals drove 1H 2020 education investment to its highest level since 2017

In the first half of 2020, private capital fund managers committed USD3.4b to EM education companies—inclusive of schools, edtech startups focused on both learning and educational administration, and education finance—more than the USD2.9b invested in the whole of 2019. Venture capital (VC) activity drove the increase, representing 92% of deal volume and 93% of capital invested in the sector in 1H 2020. New approaches to education prompted by COVID-19 placed online learning companies in the spotlight, even as it has diminished investor interest in formal schools. Zuoyebang, a China-based provider of online studying tools, secured USD750m in a Series E round led by Tiger Global and FountainVest in June 2020, while Byju’s, an India-focused digital tutoring platform, secured a combined USD523m across two funding rounds from Bond Capital, Tiger Global, and General Atlantic.