Lingumi, which offers English-learning through its eponymous app, has closed its Series A round, bagging GBP 4 million (USD 5.1 million) from North Submit Capital, 36Kr reported on Thursday.
Angel investors including LocalGlobe, ADV, and Entrepreneur First also put forward cash for the investment in the startup, which was founded by University of Oxford graduate Toby Mather in 2015.
The fresh funds will be used for building Lingumi’s international R&D and marketing teams in Singapore, China, and the United Kingdom. The startup aims to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities, which are applied to customize courses for children aged between two and six.
Min Wanli, Alibaba Cloud’s former chief scientist and the founder of North Submit Capital, said that although there are many English-learning apps available in the Chinese market, only a small number of preschool kids have access to one-on-one English instruction. Lingumi’s AI-enabled customized courses, he said, can help close the gap.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.