China Digest: Bertelsmann leads $30m Series B+ in Knowbox; MioTech secures $7m Series A

The skyline of Beijing, China. Photo: Pixabay

By Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

October 14, 2017

Knowbox has secured $30 million in a Series B+ round led by Bertelsmann Asia Investments. Horizons Ventures has led a Series A round in Chinese AI-based fintech startup MioTech.

Knowbox secures $30m Series B+

Knowbox, a Beijing-based K12 online education platform, has raised $30 million in a Series B+ round led by Bertelsmann Asia Investments.

Other investors in this round include Haoweilai, Baidu Ventures and New World Development Co Ltd, according to a report by the China Money Network.

Founded in 2014, Knowbox is an education mobile app that helps students with their homework and assists teachers to better manage students’ homework.

It previously received a $1-million seed funding from Legend Star in 2014 and a $10-million Series A round from TAL Education Group and Liu Qiangdong. Prior to this latest round, it secured $15 million in a Series B round from Beijing- and Hong-Kong-based investment firm Genesis Capital in November last year.

Horizons Ventures leads $7m Series A in MioTech

MioTech, an artificial intelligence software developer for financial institutions, has closed a $7-million Series A round led by Horizons Ventures and joined by ZhenFund and investors in Hong Kong and China.

The new capital will be used to invest in research and development, hire new talent and expand its business across the Asia Pacific region, according to the company’s announcement.

MioTech has developed a graph database that allows investment managers to integrate all information to form a complete knowledge map as well as the AI technology that helps financial institutions improve data processing capacity substantially.

“MioTech’s ability to capture, aggregate and dissect the data helps the asset managers and financial advisors to have deeper insights in serving their clients,” said Frances Kang from Horizons Ventures. “We believe that MioTech fits well with our portfolios of Fintech and Insurtech companies.”

Horizons Ventures is the private investment arm of Li Ka-shing, a well-known investor in the world’s disruptive technologies and innovative companies including Facebook, Waze, Spotify, Siri, DeepMind, Improbable, and Blockstream.

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  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW