Report on the Financing Trend of China's Education Industry in the First Half of 2025: Where has the money in the venture capital circle gone?
Introduction
Against the backdrop of stable regulation, demand transformation, and technological innovation, the investment and financing landscape in the education industry in the first half of 2025 presented a new pattern of "stable total volume and structural reconstruction." Statistics show that in the first half of this year, there were a total of 24 financing events in the education industry, with the overall financing scale exceeding 1.1 billion yuan, surpassing the total for the whole of 2024. This reflects a marginal recovery of capital confidence and a concentrated bet on "certainty tracks." Sub - sectors with rigid demand attributes and extension potential, such as vocational education, AI - enabled education, and quality education, have become key investment directions, while the "angel round + mergers and acquisitions" structure dominates, reflecting capital's dual strategies of focusing on early - stage innovative projects and integrating resources of mature enterprises. Heiban Insight has carefully sorted out the disclosed investment and financing data of the education industry in the first half of 2025 and attempts to analyze the new trends in education industry financing in 2025.
(Note: As a rule, events with undisclosed financing amounts are not included in the statistics. For the convenience of statistics, we calculate the amounts according to the rule of taking the middle value - for millions of financing, we take 3 million yuan; for tens of millions of financing, we take 30 million yuan. Additionally, for nearly ten million yuan of financing, we take 6 million yuan, and for nearly ten million US dollars, we take 6 million US dollars, which is equivalent to 36 million yuan. "Tens of millions" refers to 10 million yuan; "nearly 100 million" refers to 60 million yuan; and "over 100 million" refers to 100 million yuan. Note: The financing time is calculated based on the media disclosure time.)
Overview of Education Industry Financing in the Past 5 Years: Industry Recovery in 2025
In the past five years, the investment and financing enthusiasm in the first half of the year in the education industry has been continuously cooling down: it dropped from a high of 133 financing events and 14.536 billion yuan in the first half of 2021 to only 23 events and 481 million yuan in 2024, with both the number of events and the financing amount hitting rock - bottom. In the first half of 2025, although only 24 events were recorded, the financing amount rebounded to 1.168 billion yuan, showing the first signs of partial recovery with "stable quantity and increasing amount." Capital is shifting from blind expansion to rational layout, focusing on tracks with long - term value such as vocational education, AI - enabled education, and enterprise service platforms. The investment strategy has changed from "casting a wide net" to "precise betting," which also marks that the education industry is entering a new stage of structural reshaping from the clearing period.
Monthly Financing Situation in the Education Industry in the First Half of 2025
The financing in the education industry in the first half of 2025 showed the characteristics of "low - frequency stability + structural sudden increase." The number of monthly financing events was relatively average, generally ranging from 3 to 4 per month, except for April, which was slightly higher (7 events). However, in terms of financing amount, June alone reached 802 million yuan, accounting for nearly 70% of the total in the first half of the year, far exceeding the other months and forming a significant tail - end increase. The amounts in the other months were all below 100 million yuan, and in some months, they were even less than 20 million yuan. Overall, although the frequency of education financing in the first half of 2025 continued to be at a low level, the capital concentration increased significantly, the pulling effect of leading projects was obvious, and the funds tended to bet on high - certainty targets.
Distribution of Financing Rounds in the Education Industry in the First Half of 2025
In the first half of 2025, early - stage projects dominated the financing rounds in the education industry. The angel round accounted for as much as two - thirds (16 events), far exceeding other rounds, indicating that capital still maintained a certain degree of attention to innovative projects in the start - up stage. There were 3 Series A and 2 Pre - Series A events, which were in a marginal position. Financing for mid - and late - stage projects was obviously scarce. In addition, there were 2 mergers and acquisitions and 1 equity investment, indicating that industry integration is still ongoing. Overall, the financing in the education industry showed the typical characteristics of "active in the early stage, a gap in the growth stage, and mergers and acquisitions filling the gap." The capital strategy is shifting from continuous follow - up investment to a combined model of "screening + acquisition."
Geographical Distribution of Education Industry Financing in the First Half of 2025
The geographical distribution of education industry financing in the first half of 2025 presented a pattern of "strong in the east, weak in the west, and concentrated in the core areas." Beijing ranked first with 5 financing events, followed by Guangdong and Jiangsu with 3 events each, showing the continuous advantages of first - tier and strong provinces and cities in terms of resources, capital, and project supply. Regions such as Hubei, Hunan, Shanghai, and Zhejiang also maintained a certain level of activity, while in western and central provinces such as Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Xinjiang, there were only sporadic events. The geographical gap was still obvious. Overall, education investment and financing were still highly concentrated in the eastern regions with strong economic and educational foundations, and the unbalanced regional development characteristics had not fundamentally changed.
Financing Distribution in Sub - sectors of the Education Industry in the First Half of 2025
The financing in the education industry in the first half of 2025 showed the characteristics of extremely concentrated structure and a tilt towards vocational and service - end sectors. Vocational education ranked first in financing with 8 events and a volume of 891 million yuan, followed by enterprise services with 7 events and 223 million yuan. Together, they accounted for more than 90% of the total financing, reflecting capital's continuous optimism about the directions of "employment ability improvement" and "education toolization." In contrast, although there were sporadic events in sectors such as quality education, studying abroad, K12, and early childhood education, the financing amounts were generally small, indicating that it was still difficult for consumer - end projects to obtain financing. Overall, capital is accelerating its shift towards a structure of "rigid demand, high frequency, and low risk," and the investment and financing in the education industry are entering a new stage of in - depth specialization and application - orientation.
Top 5 Financing Events in the Education Industry in the First Half of 2025
Conclusion
In the first half of 2025, although the investment and financing in the education industry were still at a low level, there were signs of structural recovery. Capital has shifted from blind expansion to calm and rational investment, focusing on "ability improvement" and "efficiency optimization" tracks such as vocational education and enterprise services, reflecting that the investment logic is shifting from consumer - end traffic to supply - end value. In terms of financing rounds, geographical distribution, and track structure, there were trends of centralization and specialization. The education industry is entering a reconstruction cycle that emphasizes quality and long - termism from the stage of extensive high - speed growth. Capital is no longer chasing seemingly bustling markets but is more concerned about whether projects can truly meet social needs and have sustainable development capabilities. In this round of reshaping, enterprises with genuine educational understanding and systematic problem - solving capabilities may welcome the starting point of the next growth cycle.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Heiban Insight" (ID: heibandongcha), author: Er Dong. It is published by 36Kr with permission.