Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Squirrel AI Learning (Shanghai Yixue Education Technology / Yixue Group)
China's most visible "AI tutor" company. Founded in Shanghai in 2014, it broke school subjects into thousands of fine-grained knowledge points, used an adaptive engine to diagnose and fill each student's gaps, scaled through ~2,000 franchise learning centres, survived the 2021 tutoring ban by moving into learning tablets, and is now marketing a "Large Adaptive Model" ahead of a reported Hong Kong IPO.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2014, Shanghai, China
- Founders
- Derek Haoyang Li (Li Haoyang), founder and chairman; co-founders including Joleen Liang and Wei Cui (chief scientist) (verify roles)
- Headquarters
- Shanghai, China; North American entity licensing the technology (reported)
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture-backed; operating company Shanghai Yixue Education Technology ("Yixue Group"); consumer brand 松鼠Ai / Squirrel AI; Hong Kong IPO preparation reported in 2026 (verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Derek Haoyang Li, chairman; Joleen Liang, co-founder and senior executive (verify titles)
- Segment and buyer
- K-12 after-school learning; buyers are Chinese parents (centres, then devices); also schools and international partners
- Scale
- ~2,000 franchise centres in ~200 cities (2019, company claim); company claims 40m+ cumulative students and use in 60,000 schools (unverified); cumulative device shipments ~200,000+ (brand-sourced, unverified); revenue not disclosed
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- Total funding reported between ~$128m (CB Insights) and ~$340m (Caplight); ~RMB 1bn (~$145–150m) round in 2018 at a reported $1bn+ valuation; pre-IPO valuation reportedly targeted at ≥ RMB 12bn (~$1.7bn) in 2026 (verify)
- Signature moves (including notable failures)
- Nano knowledge-point adaptive engine (2014); franchise centre rollout (2016–19); AI-vs-teacher contests (2017); ~RMB 1bn round (2018); global showcase and critical MIT Technology Review profile (2019); forced pivot to learning devices after double reduction (2021); Large Adaptive Model (2023–24); Hong Kong IPO preparation (2026, verify)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2014
Founding Adaptive Learning Knowledge Graph
Launch
2016
Franchise Learning Centre Rollout
Launch (distribution model)
2017
Human vs AI Teacher Competitions
Launch (marketing and evidence campaign)
2018
RMB 1bn Round Unicorn
Funding round
2019
Global AI Education Showcase
Partnership (research, conferences and international positioning)
2021
Double Reduction Pivot to Learning Devices
Pivot
2023
Large Adaptive Model Launch
AI launch
2026
Hong Kong IPO Preparation
IPO (preparation)