Yimifudao

About Yimifudao

Yimifudao, operating under Shanghai Yimi Education Technology Co., Ltd., was an online education platform specializing in one-on-one tutoring for K-12 students in China. The company was established in Shanghai in 2015 by Li Xiaofeng, a Tsinghua University graduate and co-founder of the prominent education company OneSmart International Education Group (精锐教育). Li's background in co-founding and developing OneSmart, a major player in the premium tutoring market, provided a substantial foundation of experience in educational management and quality control, which he aimed to translate to the online space with Yimifudao. His vision was to leverage the internet to make high-quality, personalized tutoring accessible to a broader range of families.

The business operated in the competitive Chinese online K-12 education market, targeting parents of students aged 9-18 seeking personalized academic support. Its business model revolved around providing live, one-on-one online tutoring sessions. Revenue was generated by selling packages of these tutoring hours to parents. A key differentiator for Yimifudao was its insistence on employing only full-time, professional teachers, a model inherited from OneSmart. This approach contrasted with many competitors that relied on part-time tutors or university students. The company emphasized a rigorous teacher selection process and a comprehensive teaching quality management system to ensure consistent educational outcomes. The platform, accessible via computer, tablet, and mobile apps, featured an interactive virtual classroom called "Yimi Cloud Classroom," offering customized lesson plans, real-time interaction, and session recordings for later review.

Yimifudao successfully navigated several funding rounds, starting with a Series A in 2017, a $10 million Series B in May 2018 led by Blue Lake Capital, and a $15 million Series C in November 2018, with continued participation from investors like OneSmart Education and Dehui Capital. This series of investments fueled its expansion, teacher recruitment, and the development of its AI-powered teaching systems. The company's growth trajectory culminated in its acquisition by its strategic investor, OneSmart Education, in March 2020, as part of OneSmart's strategy to accelerate its online-merge-offline (OMO) business model.