HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Global EdTech venture funding surged 29% YoY to US$20.8bn in 2021. China saw c.75% YoY decline in EdTech venture funding but India recorded over 60% growth.</li>
<li>Into 2022, we expect EdTech spending and market will continue to grow, venture funding becoming more selective and Asia and workforce are the fastest growing markets.</li>
<li>China stays weak in 1H22 and India will thrive. India has 4 new unicorns in 2021 while none for China. We stick to higher education, not EdTech (tutoring) in China.</li>
</ul>


Global EdTech venture funding surged 29% YoY to US$20.8bn in 2021. China saw c.75% YoY decline in EdTech venture funding but India recorded over 60% growth.
Into 2022, we expect EdTech spending and market will continue to grow, venture funding becoming more selective and Asia and workforce are the fastest growing markets.
China stays weak in 1H22 and India will thrive. India has 4 new unicorns in 2021 while none for China. We stick to higher education, not EdTech (tutoring) in China.


Asia EdTech and China Education: An Update

<p>EdTech in Asia has been booming with increase in investor interests over the last two years. While China has seen a faster adoption and development in this space, other countries in Asia are also advancing very rapidly on the back of the pandemic-driven demand. Fueled further by significant investments, particularly from venture capital, the Asia (ex-China) EdTech market has been rapidly expanding. We think there are a lot of positive drivers, including demographic, socio-economic, political, cultural and governmental factors, behind the high growth rate of Asian EdTech and support its encouraging prospects. However, there are also many challenges need to be overcome by the EdTech enterprises so that they can thrive in the long-term.</p><p>Outside of China, there are already two unicorns in Asia and both are from India - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/think-learn-pvt-ltd-byju-s" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32203:1" rel="noopener">BYJU'S (1391510D IN)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sorting-hat-technologies-pvt-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34354:1" rel="noopener">Unacademy (1434617D IN)</a> and there are some potential newcomers from Southeast Asia striving to make themselves into the list. We believe with further growth in EdTech adoption and the influx of EdTech investments in Asia, there are numerous opportunities for the sector to advance. Besides the two Indian names, we also look into interesting names including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zenius-education-pt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34355:1" rel="noopener">Zenius Education (1783734D IJ)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xseed-education-pte-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34356:1" rel="noopener">XSEED Education (1256190D SP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cialfo" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34359:1" rel="noopener">Cialfo (1432512D SP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/topica-edtech-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34357:1" rel="noopener">Topica Edtech Group (1679740D VN)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pt-ruang-raya-indonesia" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34358:1" rel="noopener">Ruangguru (1522782D IJ)</a>. We think many of them are poised to become more meaningful players going forward, and serve as important role models for future development of EdTech in the region.</p><h2>What's Original?</h2><p>This Smartkarma Original addresses the latest developments of EdTech industry in Asia (ex-China) and will take experience from China as reference. In particular, its focus will be mostly on South and Southeast Asian countries. We highlight comprehensively the positive trends and driving factors behind the rapid growth of EdTech in Asia and discuss the key challenges. With EdTech development still in a comparatively early stage in the region, the company section of this Original focuses primarily on unlisted names. We look at their background, business model, management team, moats and challenges, financing arrangements and latest developments. We will finish up by looking at the emerging trends which will shape the industry in the medium-term. It is our intention that this Original will be an important reference Insight for the sector with unique coverage of key unlisted EdTech plays in Asia (ex-China).</p>

EdTech in Asia has been booming with increase in investor interests over the last two years. While China has seen a faster adoption and development in this space, other countries in Asia are also advancing very rapidly on the back of the pandemic-driven demand. Fueled further by significant investments, particularly from venture capital, the Asia (ex-China) EdTech market has been rapidly expanding. We think there are a lot of positive drivers, including demographic, socio-economic, political, cultural and governmental factors, behind the high growth rate of Asian EdTech and support its encouraging prospects. However, there are also many challenges need to be overcome by the EdTech enterprises so that they can thrive in the long-term.Outside of China, there are already two unicorns in Asia and both are from India - BYJU'S (1391510D IN) and Unacademy (1434617D IN) and there are some potential newcomers from Southeast Asia striving to make themselves into the list. We believe with further growth in EdTech adoption and the influx of EdTech investments in Asia, there are numerous opportunities for the sector to advance. Besides the two Indian names, we also look into interesting names including Zenius Education (1783734D IJ), XSEED Education (1256190D SP), Cialfo (1432512D SP), Topica Edtech Group (1679740D VN) and Ruangguru (1522782D IJ). We think many of them are poised to become more meaningful players going forward, and serve as important role models for future development of EdTech in the region.What's Original?This Smartkarma Original addresses the latest developments of EdTech industry in Asia (ex-China) and will take experience from China as reference. In particular, its focus will be mostly on South and Southeast Asian countries. We highlight comprehensively the positive trends and driving factors behind the rapid growth of EdTech in Asia and discuss the key challenges. With EdTech development still in a comparatively early stage in the region, the company section of this Original focuses primarily on unlisted names. We look at their background, business model, management team, moats and challenges, financing arrangements and latest developments. We will finish up by looking at the emerging trends which will shape the industry in the medium-term. It is our intention that this Original will be an important reference Insight for the sector with unique coverage of key unlisted EdTech plays in Asia (ex-China).

Asia (Ex-China) EdTech: A Deep-Dive into the Bonanza

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing, Sacra

Sacra

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing

Bringing transparency to private markets so investors, founders, and employees can build on conviction. Sacra delivers deeply researched insights on the private companies shaping tomorrow's markets. By surfacing the data, context, and operator perspective that are missing from private markets today, we help secondary buyers and sellers price equity accurately and unlock liquidity for the people building these businesses.

Private Capital Markets

<ul><li>Preply made $50M in 2021, up 39% from last year.</li><li>Preply raised $150M in a Series D round in January 2026 at a $1.2B valuation, reaching unicorn status.</li><li>Preply’s enterprise business grew faster than the D2C business at 230% in 2021-22.</li></ul>

Preply made $50M in 2021, up 39% from last year.Preply raised $150M in a Series D round in January 2026 at a $1.2B valuation, reaching unicorn status.Preply’s enterprise business grew faster than the D2C business at 230% in 2021-22.

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

Physicswallah Limited / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/physicswallah-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45792:1" rel="noopener">Physicswallah</a> raised around US$430m in its India IPO, despite having a decent anchor book.</li>
<li>Physicswallah Ltd (PWL) offers test preparation courses for competitive examinations, and other courses such as for upskilling, across 13 education categories, including JEE, NEET, and UPSC, among others.</li>
<li>We have looked at the past performance in our previous note. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.</li>
</ul>



Physicswallah raised around US$430m in its India IPO, despite having a decent anchor book.
Physicswallah Ltd (PWL) offers test preparation courses for competitive examinations, and other courses such as for upskilling, across 13 education categories, including JEE, NEET, and UPSC, among others.
We have looked at the past performance in our previous note. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.


Physicswallah IPO Trading - Decent Anchor but Low Demand

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/physicswallah-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45792:1" rel="noopener">Physicswallah</a> Is looking to raise about US$434m in its upcoming India IPO.</li>
<li>Physicswallah Ltd (PWL) offers test preparation courses for competitive examinations, and other courses such as for upskilling, across 13 education categories, including JEE, NEET, and UPSC, among others.</li>
<li>We have looked at the company’s past performance in our earlier notes. In this note we talk about the RHP updates and provide our thoughts on valuations.</li>
</ul>



Physicswallah Is looking to raise about US$434m in its upcoming India IPO.
Physicswallah Ltd (PWL) offers test preparation courses for competitive examinations, and other courses such as for upskilling, across 13 education categories, including JEE, NEET, and UPSC, among others.
We have looked at the company’s past performance in our earlier notes. In this note we talk about the RHP updates and provide our thoughts on valuations.


Physicswallah IPO - RHP Updates and Thoughts on Valuation

India

Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, doing business as BYJU, provides online educational services. The Company offers technology based education platform for primary and secondary school subjects, overseas and domestic test preparation courses, engineering, medicine, and more. BYJU operates in India.

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BYJU'S (1391510D IN)

Asia EdTech and China Education: An Update

China's EdTech venture funding lagged behind India's in 2021. We expect regulatory concerns to keep China underperforming in 1H22, with India...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Asia (Ex-China) EdTech: A Deep-Dive into the Bonanza

The Asia (ex-China) EdTech industry is still in early stage of boom and there are positive factors driving its outlook. In this Original, we look...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Primer: Preply - 01 Feb 2026

Marketplace for live online language lessons with tutors across 50+ languages

Sacra

Physicswallah IPO Trading - Decent Anchor but Low Demand

Physicswallah raised around US$430m in its India IPO, despite having a decent anchor book. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.

Sumeet Singh

Physicswallah IPO - RHP Updates and Thoughts on Valuation

Physicswallah Is looking to raise about US$434m in its upcoming India IPO. We have looked at the past performance in our earlier notes. In this...

Sumeet Singh

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