VIPKid

Founded in 2013 and formally launched in 2014 by Cindy Mi, the VIPKid platform connects paying students with teachers in the United States and Canada.[1][2] Its online-classroom portal enables students to receive 25-minute English language lessons from fluent English-speaking teachers.[3][4] Students and teachers communicate via its video chat platform.[5]

In 2017, VIPKid launched a new service, Lingo Bus, to teach Mandarin to students of 5 to 12 years old.[6][7]

In 2017, VIPKid reported that it had raised $200 million in initial series funding,[8] and in April 2018 raised an additional $500 million in series D+ funding.[9][10] Combined, this amount equated VIPKID's valuation to $3 billion.[10] As of November 2018, the company reported having 60,000 contracted teachers to teach 500,000 students.

In May 2020, VIPKID announced that all current teachers would gradually transition to a new service fee structure and the base rate adjustment policy will be phased out. This will effectively result in a pay reduction for the vast majority of their teachers.[11]

In 2021 the company stopped providing services in China involving teachers based abroad.[12] China-based customers will use Chinese citizen teachers in China and/or teachers residing in China who have teaching licenses.[13]

In March 2019, VIPKid fired two American teachers for discussing the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and Taiwan with their students in China.[14] Teachers have also reported witnessing child abuse when teaching lessons, but they found little recourse to report such issues.[15]

In February 2020, VIPKid donated 1.5 million English and math classes to affected students from the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, and children of medical workers were given priority for free classes.[16]

• English education in China
• New Oriental Education & Technology Group