Vietnamese English teaching institute YOLA has secured $10 million from Singapore and India-based education investment fund Kaizen Private Equity.
The startup has last received funding of $4.9 million from Vietnamese private equity firm Mekong Capital in 2016.
Founded in 2009 by a group of Vietnamese students returning from abroad, YOLA has trained more than 50,000 students at its 16 campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi using a combination of traditional and online methods.
With the mission of “Changing lives through education”, YOLA promises to optimize and unlock the full potential of its students through a solid foundation of education. It has a broad range of educational programs for all age groups and taught by highly experienced international teachers. With guarantee of ultimate results, YOLA’s intensive academic programs are based on international standards and designed to meet the needs of Vietnamese students.
Excited with the latest investment the company has received, Pham Anh Khoa, co-founder and CEO of YOLA, said,
“By partnering with Kaizen Private Equity, one of Asia’s most active education investors, YOLA gains a partner whose vision of educational and social impact is aligned with ours, and we are excited to work together to continue to deliver on our mission of educating 500,000 students.”
Meanwhile, while Kaizen Private Equity has previously invested in major education and tech companies in South Asia and Southeast Asia, including India’s learning app Toppr and education financing firm Varthana, this is the investor’s first deal in Vietnam. Hope this investment will enable YOLA to enhance its operations in delivering quality education to the Vietnamese students.
Needless to mention, Vietnamese education firms have received increasing investment in recent years. In 2017, Swedish fund EQT Partners gave an undisclosed amount to the company that owns English teaching institute ILA Vietnam. And in 2018, education technology company Topica Edtech received $50 million from Singapore private equity firm Northstar.
