Landzo secures $29.23 million in Series A round
Landzo Technology Co., Ltd., a provider of educational robots and STEAM education toys, announced that it had raised $29.23 million in Series A funding in June. Investors included GeniLink Capital, CTV Golden Bridge, the Nanjing Municipal Government Fund as well as some funds that regularly invest in publicly-traded companies specializing in culture and education. Glacier Capital served as its long-term exclusive financial adviser. China's latest directives banning extra-curricular courses provided by private firms represent a huge challenge to the traditional educational training sector. Landzo, a manufacturer of STEAM educational robots, is on track to create new opportunities for the educational sector.
The Status of STEAM education in China
The integration of arts into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education encourages children to fully explore their potential not only in the four original subjects but also in the arts. According to data from iiMedia Research, STEAM education mainly serves children aged 5-14 in China, a total universe of some 140 million, of which, 7.89 million kids are viewed as potential participants. However, the country's STEAM education market is still at an early stage and lacks a well-established structure. Currently, the market is filled with separate solutions for STEAM education technologies, products and services respectively, none of which are, by themselves, sufficiently comprehensive or mature.
The combination of products and services will become the priority of China's STEAM education industry looking forward. Landzo has always been committed to advancing the development of STEAM education in China by providing complete, efficient and sophisticated STEAM educational models and solutions, including intelligence and innovation labs for universities and colleges, and a full range of quality-oriented education solutions for primary and secondary schools. In 2019, Landzo came up with the concept of combining playing and learning as a model for the future of education, and began to develop toys and teaching tools for quality-oriented education, integrating its proprietary products with online interactive courses. During the same year, the company obtained $15.46 million in financing, formally entering the family consumption market. In early 2020, Landzo started to develop and manufacture AI educational robots for children. The company created Quincy, an AI-enabled consumer robot featuring mechanical arms and movement interactions. The company's plan is to provide children with AI educational robots that make learning more fun, delivering a complete education solution to parents. When it comes to the development of other teaching tools and toys, Landzo successfully rolled out Landzo Planet voiced stories and comics in July of this year, in addition to
proprietary card-based educational games, stimulating children's motivation to learn with educational toys.
"Landzo is committed to creating a new education portfolio that combines products, scenarios and enriched content," said Landzo e-commerce director Yuan Yan. "In 2020, Landzo's revenue exceeded $154.61 million , of which, its home-end AI robot and toy businesses had increased by nearly 700% from $4.64 million to more than $30.92 million. This year, the e-commerce side is expected to exceed $77.31 million yuan."