Lingokids provides virtual language tuition to kids in Southeast Asia; raises US$4M
The Lingokids platform features games, songs, videos and audiobooks along with live tutoring lessons
500 Startups-backed edtech startup Lingokids has raised US$4 million in a round led by Holtzbrinck Ventures and JME Venture Capital. Bessemer Ventures Partners also participated in the funding.
Lingokids will use the newly-raised capital to grow its products and expand into new regions. It aims to reach 15 million families by 2018.
The US company also announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with leading educational publisher Oxford University Press (OUP). Lingokids will work with OUP to bundle physical books with its platform and distribute the package to schools.
Launched in 2016, Lingokids offer a range of language training products for the early childhood demographic. It offers games, songs, videos and audiobooks. Additionally, it also provides live tutoring lessons with native educators.
So what is Lingokids’s connection or relevance to Asia?
Well, to start off, Cristobal Viedma told e27 in an email exchange that the concept was birthed in Singapore. Viedma was then head of platform for global TV streaming site Viki in Singapore.
When Viki got acquired by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, he decided to pursue this idea full-time.
Although it is a US-based company, 40 per cent of Lingokids’s two million users hail from Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand and Indonesia. The two most sought-after languages on the platform in this region are English and Chinese.
“There’s a much stronger and willingness interest from parents to spend in their kids education in Southeast Asia [compared to the US]…we’ve seen a huge increase in organic traffic from the region as well as interest from local partners. We closed a few months ago with DTAC/Digicraft in Thailand and in conversations now with Singtel and Xurpas in Phillippines,” he said.
Lingokids is also backed by several investors from the region, including 500 Durians and Incuvest in Singapore.
Going forward, the company will set up a dedicated team in Singapore in the coming months so it can cover the region more effectively.
When asked how he felt about competing with other similar edtech platforms, Viedma said:
“We believe it’s not so much about knowing the domestic market but about providing the best educational experience and learning outcomes. If we can prove your child will learn twice as fast with our product compared with others (which we’ve done, please see case studies in our website) parents are willing to use us.”
“Moreover, we’re one of the few companies creating a 360 [degree] learning experience, combining a virtual tutoring experience guided by native educators with a content platform guided by a machine learning algorithm,” he added.
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Image Credit: Lingokids
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