China's TAL Education buys Israeli learning start-up Codemonkey

JERUSALEM - Israeli startup company Codemonkey announced Tuesday that it has been sold to the Chinese giant TAL Education Group for an estimated $20 million.

Founded in 2013 by three software engineers and headquartered in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Codemonkey developed programming games for children. It currently markets its products in Israel and the United States, as well as 10 other countries in Asia, Europe and South America.

Codemonkey has been active in the Israeli education system since 2014. In the past three years, over a quarter of a million students in Israel have used the system in more than 2,000 schools.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Beijing, TAL Education Group is China's leading education-technology company with centers in 42 cities nationwide, serving 2.3 million students.

The first contact between the two companies was made in 2014, at an exhibition in London, and since then they have been under cooperation.

After the acquisition, Codemonkey will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary, undertaking research and development for the Chinese and other markets.

"Codemonkey is a leading product for learning 21st century programming and skills for children, and we look forward to working with its team to continue the company's success," said Chairman and CEO of TAL Education Zhang Bangxin.

Codemonkey CEO Jonathan Schor said that "TAL Education is an ideal partner for us to accelerate the entry into the Chinese market, a country we have defined as a major target several years ago, while supporting the expansion of operations in the rest of the world."