Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Yuanfudao (猿辅导, "Ape Tutor")
A Beijing company founded in 2012 by former NetEase Youdao staff that built exam-practice and photo-search apps (Yuantiku, Xiaoyuan Souti, Xiaoyuan Kousuan), turned them into one of China's two largest K-12 live tutoring businesses, became China's most valuable edtech start-up at a reported $15.5bn with Tencent among its backers in 2020, lost its core business to the 2021 "double reduction" policy, and rebuilt around Xiaoyuan learning devices, the Zebra early-childhood brand and AI.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2012, Beijing (Fenbi exam-prep community; Yuantiku question bank ~2013)
- Founders
- Li Yong (李勇, CEO), Shuai Ke (帅科), Guo Changzhen (郭常圳) (reported); Li Yong previously worked at NetEase Youdao
- Headquarters
- Beijing, China
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture-backed (offshore holding structure typical of Chinese tech, reported). Main operating company Beijing Yuanli Technology (北京猿力科技). Investors include Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, IDG Capital, DST Global, CITIC PE, GIC, Temasek, Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners China
- Leadership (2026)
- Li Yong, CEO (verify)
- Segment and buyer
- Consumer: parents buy learning devices (Xiaoyuan), early-childhood courses (Zebra) and quality-education courses; students use free homework apps
- Scale (learners/customers, latest reported revenue)
- Hundreds of millions of cumulative app users claimed; ~50,000 staff in spring 2021 cut to ~37,000 by August 2021 (TechNode); first Xiaoyuan device sold >1m units in 16 months (company claim, 2025). Revenue not disclosed
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- ~$4bn+ raised in total (reported). $7.8bn valuation (March 2020); $15.5bn after $2.2bn in October 2020. No disclosed valuation since; marked down sharply after 2021 (reported)
- Signature moves (including notable failures)
- Fenbi and Yuantiku (2012–13); Xiaoyuan Souti photo search (2015); live tutoring with Tencent backing (2015–); Zebra English (~2018); $1bn and $2.2bn rounds (2020); RMB 2.5m SAMR fine (June 2021); double reduction restructuring (2021); Xiaoyuan e-ink devices; Xiaoyuan AI learning machine and DeepSeek integration (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2012
Founding Fenbi and Yuantiku
Launch (founding; adult exam-prep community followed by a K-12 question-bank app)
2015
Live Online Tutoring
Launch / pivot (from free practice tools to paid live tutoring), with strategic investment from Tencent
2015
Xiaoyuan Souti Photo Search
Launch (photo-search homework app)
2018
Zebra English
Launch (new brand for pre-school and early-primary learners)
2020
Mega Rounds
Funding rounds
2021
Double Reduction Restructuring
Restructuring (forced exit from for-profit K-9 subject tutoring)
2023
Xiaoyuan Learning Devices
Launch / pivot (smart learning devices under the Xiaoyuan brand)
2025
AI Learning Machine and LLM
AI launch (AI-centred learning device and model integration)