Observation of Overseas Education Technology Financing Exceeding 100 Million Yuan: Investment Trends Outlined by Six Large Deals

In 2025, the keyword for education technology is "tightening." The number of investment and financing cases has decreased, the valuation system has declined, and capital's attitude towards the sector is much calmer than during the peak of the pandemic. However, large - scale financing has not completely disappeared in such an environment.

This spring, the medical education platform AMBOSS announced the completion of a $260 million financing round. Soon after, the valuation of the AI programming company Windsurf also soared to $2.85 billion. Meanwhile, in the Southeast Asian, European, and Indian markets, companies such as Manabie, Knowunity, Eruditus, and Lingokids have also successively secured new rounds of funding ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars.

These events, taken together, point to a more notable trend: Capital is not withdrawing across the board but is instead concentrating its bets on projects with essential value and technological barriers. The money is still there, but it is flowing into a narrower and more selective range of areas.

AI Programming Company Windsurf (formerly codeium): Valuation Rises to $2.85 Billion

This year, the AI programming company formerly known as Codeium announced that it had changed its name to Windsurf and completed a new round of financing, with the company's valuation rising to $2.85 billion, led by Kleiner Perkins. It has only been half a year since the Series C round in August 2024, when the valuation was $1.25 billion.

Windsurf started as an AI code completion plugin compatible with environments such as VS Code and JetBrains. It quickly gained popularity in the developer community thanks to its support for multiple languages and speed advantages. With product iterations, the company launched the independent Windsurf Editor when it changed its name. Instead of being limited to code completion, it aims to build an integrated IDE. The newly launched "Cascade" function can maintain context understanding in cross - file scenarios, helping developers handle more complex projects.

Public data shows that Windsurf's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has reached $40 million. The capital market is willing to pay a valuation of 70 times ARR, while the multiples of similar companies are generally between 20 - 30 times. This premium indicates that investors are betting on its ability to evolve from a tool to a platform.

Codeium was founded in 2021 by its CEO and co - founder Varun Mohan and his childhood friend, Douglas Chen, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining Codeium, Chen worked at Meta, participating in the development of software tools for VR headsets such as Oculus Quest. Mohan served as the technical director of the autonomous delivery startup Nuro, responsible for managing the autonomous driving infrastructure team.

Amid the overall cautiousness in education technology financing, AI programming is regarded as "productivity infrastructure," serving both students learning programming and reshaping the entire development industry. Its certainty and growth potential make it a typical case where capital is willing to bet against the trend.

German Medical Education AMBOSS: Secures €240 Million in Financing

At the end of March, the German medical education and clinical decision - making platform AMBOSS announced the completion of a €240 million financing round, with investors including KIRKBI, M&G Investments, and Lightrock. This is the company's largest financing round to date. At the same time, it completed a legal structure transformation and was registered as a European public limited - liability company (SE) in preparation for a future IPO.

AMBOSS was founded in 2012 by a team of doctors. Today, it covers more than 180 countries and has over one million users. In Germany, one in every two inpatients is treated by a doctor using AMBOSS. In the United States, 25% of first - year residents rely on it to improve their clinical performance. The company serves both medical students and clinical doctors: the former use it to prepare for exams, while the latter use it as a digital co - pilot during the diagnosis and treatment process.

Different from many education technology companies, AMBOSS has always emphasized "responsible AI." The platform uses artificial intelligence to recommend content and provide diagnosis and treatment suggestions, but all medical knowledge is strictly reviewed by a team of doctors and experts. This model not only improves efficiency but also enhances credibility.

Investors are attracted by the strong demand nature of medical education. Different from consumer - oriented education products, medical education and clinical decision - making are indispensable in any economic environment. AMBOSS's global penetration rate and IPO plan have enabled it to receive significant support in the cautious capital market.

Education SaaS Service Provider Manabie: Completes $23 Million Series B Financing

If AMBOSS's financing demonstrates the essential nature of medical education, Manabie's case shows the structural opportunities for Southeast Asian education SaaS in a low - penetration market. At the end of April, this Singapore - headquartered company announced the completion of a $23 million Series B financing round, led by JIC Venture Growth Investments, with participation from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Hulic, and Zoshinkai Holdings.

Manabie was co - founded in 2019 by Takuya Honma, the founder of Quipper, and Christy Wong, a former executive at Lazada. The company initially opened tutoring schools in Vietnam and later gradually transformed into a SaaS service provider, offering learning management and school management systems. In Japan, more than 30 educational institutions are using its software, with functions covering payment, grade management, and parent - teacher communication.

The Southeast Asian market is characterized by a highly fragmented education sector, with a large number of small learning centers still relying on paper - based or Excel management. Manabie's SaaS products fill this gap. At the same time, the company is also developing AI tutoring tools in the hope of further enhancing product differentiation.

As it strategically scales back its B2C business and focuses on B2B, Manabie is positioning itself as education SaaS infrastructure. For capital, this is a market opportunity with low penetration and a large base, with long - term growth potential.

AI Learning Platform Knowunity: Completes €27 Million Series B Financing

In mid - June, the German learning platform Knowunity announced the completion of a €27 million Series B financing round, with the cumulative financing reaching €45 million. The lead investor was XAnge, and other participating investors included Portfolion, Isomer Capital, Redalpine, Educapital. Arthur Kosten, the founder of Booking.com, also joined as an angel investor.

Knowunity's founding story has a distinct "student flavor." In 2020, four German high - school students founded this platform because they were dissatisfied with the uniform teaching in schools. It was initially called the "TikTok for schools," where students could upload notes and review materials to help their peers learn. In just a few years, Knowunity has expanded to 15 countries, with over 20 million users, including 380,000 student creators contributing content.

Based on its user base, the company introduced AI functions. Its "SchoolGPT" product can provide knowledge explanations, homework grading, and review plans based on 3 million pieces of localized content, truly becoming a "learning partner" for students. Data shows that students use the platform more than five times a week on average, and their activity level has further increased since the launch of the AI functions.

Knowunity's case shows that capital will still pursue projects with economies of scale and community moats during the cautious period. The combination of UGC and AI not only meets the personalized needs of Generation Z but also enables the platform to form a self - reinforcing growth model.

Eruditus: Completes $130 Million in Financing

In early September, the education technology unicorn Eruditus announced the completion of a $130 million refinancing round, with an additional $20 million expansion option, led by Mars Growth Capital and HSBC.

Eruditus was founded in 2010 and has long focused on executive education. It has partnered with more than 80 world - renowned universities such as MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, INSEAD, and Wharton, offering more than 700 programs covering short - term training, degrees, and executive training. Learners are spread across 80 countries, with over one million people.

Financial data shows that the company's revenue in fiscal year 2024 was $448 million, higher than the previous year's $405 million, and the net loss narrowed from $127 million to $85.6 million. Although it is still not profitable, the improvement trend is obvious. The company also announced that it will relocate its headquarters from Singapore to India as a preparatory move for a future IPO.

Eruditus mainly uses debt financing, indicating that capital is more concerned about its cash flow and solvency. However, even during the cautious period, investors are still willing to support it because of the global demand for executive education and the brand moat brought by partnerships with top universities.

Children's Interactive Learning Platform Lingokids: Completes $120 Million in New - Round Financing

In mid - September, the Spanish children's interactive learning platform Lingokids announced the completion of a $120 million new - round financing, led by GP Bullhound and General Catalyst, with follow - on investment from Nextalia Ventures.

Lingokids was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Madrid. It started as a children's English - learning app and has now expanded to mathematics, science, literacy, and social - emotional learning, proposing the concept of "Playlearning." The company emphasizes providing a safe, ad - free learning environment, and the global cumulative downloads have exceeded 185 million.

In addition to self - developed courses, Lingokids actively cooperates with external IPs. For example, it has launched space courses with NASA, collaborated with the World Literacy Foundation to teach basic literacy skills, and joined hands with children's brands such as Pocoyo and Blippi. AI plays an auxiliary role in personalized recommendation and content production, but it is always completed under the supervision of experts.

Against the backdrop of general capital caution, children's education can still receive large - scale financing because of the huge market base. By 2030, the global early childhood education market is expected to exceed $100 billion. Lingokids' global user base and multi - IP strategy are the keys to its recognition.

Conclusion: Selective Betting in a Cautious Market

From Windsurf in February to Lingokids and Eruditus in September, six large - scale financing cases outline a clear trend: Capital investment in the education technology sector has not disappeared but has become more concentrated. Capital's screening criteria have become stricter. Instead of making widespread bets, it is concentrating on projects with essential value, technological barriers, and global potential.

These cases have the following commonalities: They are in markets with essential demand or a large base, have clear user value and differential advantages, and improve efficiency and personalization through AI. More importantly, most of them have a global layout or have started preparing for an IPO.

The financing logic of education technology has shifted from "widespread betting" during the pandemic to "selective betting." In a cold market environment, capital still chooses companies with the ability to go the distance.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Duojing" (ID: DJEDUINNO), author: Siluo. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.