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- Liulishuo
Liulishuo Funding, Investors & Competitors
Liulishuo has raised $139M across 3 funding rounds, most recently a $100M Series C in July 2017.
Last Liulishuo funding round
$100M
Series C · Jul 2017
Cumulative funding Liulishuo raised
$139M
across 3 funding rounds
Key investors in Liulishuo
GGV Capital
Cherubic Ventures
IDG Capital
Hearst Ventures
Trustbridge Partners
RTA Capital
CMC Capital Group
Wu Capital
About Liulishuo
Liulishuo is a Shanghai-headquartered edtech company founded in September 2012. It provides AI-driven English language learning through its adaptive platform, serving users across hundreds of cities in China and countries worldwide with personalized courses powered by deep learning technology.
Founded
2012
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2C
Revenue model
Subscription
Liulishuo Funding History
Liulishuo has raised a total of $139M across 3 funding rounds.
Liulishuo's first fundraising round was a $10M Series A in April 2014. The most recent completed round was a $100M Series C in July 2017.
Liulishuo funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2017 | Series C | CMC Capital Group (lead); Wu Capital (lead); Trustbridge Partners; IDG Capital; Hearst Ventures; Cherubic Ventures; GGV Capital | $100M | Liulishuo (Shanghai Liulishuo Information Technology Ltd) is an education technology company offering English learning apps, with 'English Liulishuo' ranking among top education apps in Apple and major Android stores since January 2017. The company raised funding in July 2017 led by CMC Capital Group and Wu Capital, with participation from Cherubic Ventures, GGV Capital, Hearst Ventures, IDG Capital, and Trustbridge Partners. For the full year 2017, Liulishuo reported net revenues of 165,153 (in thousands, equating to $165 million USD), with a net loss of 170,886 (thousands). |
| Jul 2015 | Series B | Trustbridge Partners; Cherubic Ventures; GGV Capital; RTA Capital; IDG-Accel China Growth Fund | $29M | Liulishuo (also known as LAIX) is a Chinese edtech company offering an AI-powered English learning app focused on oral practice and conversational skills. The company was established in 2013 and raised a total of $129.9M across 6 funding rounds, with the latest being a take-private in October 2022. In 2018, Liulishuo debuted on the NYSE under ticker LAIX, raising up to $71.9M, far short of its $300M target at a planned $2B valuation, with shares fluctuating from $12.50 opening to $12.65 close amid competitive edtech pressures. The platform had amassed over 80M registered users and 1M paid users by June 2018. Liulishuo leverages AI technologies such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) and natural language processing (NLP) for English learning, competing in China's vast K-12 and online education market valued at hundreds of millions and projected to grow significantly. |
| Apr 2014 | Series A | IDG Capital; Hearst Ventures; Cherubic Ventures; GGV Capital; RTA Capital | $10M | - |
Who has invested in Liulishuo?
9 investors have backed Liulishuo across its funding rounds, including GGV Capital, Cherubic Ventures, IDG Capital, Hearst Ventures, Trustbridge Partners and RTA Capital.
Lead investors include CMC Capital Group and Wu Capital.
Liulishuo Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Participant | Apr 2014 | ||
| 3 | Participant | Apr 2014 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Jul 2015 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Apr 2014 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Apr 2014 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Apr 2014 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jul 2017 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 9 Liulishuo investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialLiulishuo Competitors
Liulishuo competitors include listed companies like SAP and Snowflake, and private ones like Zuoyebang, BetterUp, Anthropic and OpenAI.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | $33M | - | $10B | - | ||
| Private | $100M | - | $4.7B | 47.0x | ||
| Private | $47B | - | $965B | 20.5x | ||
| Private | $25B | - | $852B | 34.1x | ||
| Publicly listed | $42B | $13B | $248B | 5.4x | ||
| Publicly listed | $4.7B | ($1.3B) | $119B | 21.0x |
Liulishuo Public Comps
Liulishuo is still privately-owned, but its public comps include CrowdStrike, SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Snowflake, Adobe, Datadog, Moody's, Nebius Group and Workday.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $4.8B | ($12M) | 51.4x | 44.5x | (19816.2x) | 151.0x | |||
| $42B | $13B | 5.8x | 5.4x | 18.4x | 17.1x | |||
| $42B | $13B | 5.5x | 5.2x | 17.8x | 12.2x | |||
| $13B | $2.6B | 11.1x | 9.6x | 57.2x | 25.0x | |||
| $4.7B | ($1.3B) | 25.6x | 21.0x | (94.1x) | 121.7x | |||
| $24B | $9.3B | 4.3x | 3.9x | 10.9x | 8.2x | |||
| $3.4B | ($588K) | 23.6x | 19.4x | (137813.0x) | 77.6x | |||
| $7.7B | $3.8B | 11.2x | 10.6x | 22.5x | 20.1x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Liulishuo competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Liulishuo
| When was Liulishuo founded? | Liulishuo was founded in 2012. |
| Where is Liulishuo headquartered? | Liulishuo is headquartered in Shanghai, China. |
| Is Liulishuo publicly listed? | No, Liulishuo is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has Liulishuo raised? | Liulishuo has raised $139M across 3 funding rounds. |
| What was Liulishuo's last funding round? | Liulishuo's last funding round was a $100M Series C in July 2017, led by CMC Capital Group and Wu Capital. |
| Who are Liulishuo's investors? | Liulishuo's investors include Cherubic Ventures, GGV Capital, Trustbridge Partners, IDG Capital, Hearst Ventures, RTA Capital, Wu Capital, CMC Capital Group and IDG-Accel China Growth Fund. |
| Which companies are comparable to Liulishuo? | Companies comparable to Liulishuo include Zuoyebang, BetterUp, Anthropic, OpenAI, SAP and Snowflake. |
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