VIPKid, also known as VIPKID, is an
online teaching and education company.
History
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. Its online-classroom portal enables students to receive 25-minute English language lessons from fluent English-speaking teachers. Students and teachers communicate via its
global classroom
The Global Classroom Partnership is an international partnership of schools. The roots of the partnership go as far back as 1989, but the partnership was officially established in 1996. Since then it created links with over 30 schools. It is one o ...
platform.
In 2017, VIPKid launched a new service, Lingo Bus, to teach
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
to students of 5 to 12 years old.
In 2017, VIPKid reported that it had raised $200 million in initial series funding, and in April 2018 raised an additional $500 million in series D+ funding.
Combined, this amount equated VIPKID's valuation to $3 billion.
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.
In 2021 the company stopped providing services in China involving teachers based abroad. China-based customers will use Chinese citizen teachers in China or teachers residing in China who have teaching licenses.
COVID-19 pandemic
In February 2020, VIPKid donated 1.5 million English and math classes to affected students from the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Students in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, and children of medical workers were given priority for free classes.
See also
*
English education in China
The emphasis on English-language education in the People's Republic of China only emerged after 1979, 3 years after the end of Cultural Revolution, China adopted the Open Door Policy, and the United States and China established strong diplomatic t ...
*
New Oriental Education & Technology Group
References
{{Reflist
Chinese companies established in 2013
Language education in China
Educational technology companies of China