Online education firm sees spike in userbases

Chinese online education startup Zuoyebang said on Tuesday its livestreaming course revenue has increased 5.5 times year-on-year, as the COVID-19 epidemic is boosting the country's online education sector to new heights.

More than 31 million students have applied for the platform's free livestreaming class during the epidemic. The total number of normal paid classes—courses at full price instead of those on sale— exceeded 1.2 million during the period, a fourfold increase year-on-year, Zuoyebang said.

In China, which suffered a great deal during the initial phase of the pandemic, edu-tech firms saw a surge in demand for study-at-home products.

Over 80 educational technology companies have offered online courses across the country, boasting nearly 280 million students from kindergarten to university level.

"The impact of the epidemic continues, but a total of 180 million primary and secondary school students are conquering various difficulties to transfer from offline to online. This is a challenge and a huge responsibility," said Hou Jianbin, CEO of Zuoyebang.

The remarks came right after the Beijing-based firm inked a strategic partnership with Chinese women's national volleyball team, where the latter will be the spokesperson of the online education brand.

"Just like the Chinese women's national volleyball team, professional, persistence and the spirit of always challenging yourself coincides with Zuoyebang's vision and pursuit," he added.

The trend of studying at home spiked after authorities encouraged schools and universities to teach online.

"The novel coronavirus outbreak has boosted the awareness and market prospects of online education firms in the country," said Zhang Lijun, an education veteran and partner of Sinovation Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by noted investor Kai-fu Lee.

Zhang said it's now easier for companies to acquire users at comparatively lower costs, and the penetration rate of online education is expected to grow by around 10 percent after the epidemic.