Global economic headwinds and the “capital winter” continue to impede start-up financing. Snapask, however, has proven its worth by raising US$35 million in Series B financing, led by Singaporean private equity fund Asia Partners. The funding sends Snapask’s total capital raise to US$50 million, giving it new fuel to pursue the emerging Southeast Asian opportunities.
 
This fresh capital will enable the former Cyberport incubatee and Cyberport Macro Fund grantee to forge ahead with its expansion into promising Southeast Asian markets (in particular, Vietnam) and build a regional headquarter in Singapore. The funds will also support Snapask in strengthening its products, content and services, including developing data analytics that enhances self-directed learning and enables the creation of individualised education content.
 
Investors see strength and promise in Snapask’s on-demand learning products and services. The start-up’s host of relevant products, including the individualised tutor sessions, project-based courses, and one-on-one mentoring are well-loved by students, even before they become a godsend to students who are kept at home as schools got suspended from the novel coronavirus scare.
 
Indeed, Snapask has been witnessing a strong continual growth. During the past 12 months, the start-up had doubled its user base of students aged between 10 and 17, expanded its reach in Hong Kong and Taiwan by as much as 40%, and attained rapid adoption in multiple Southeast Asian markets. More than three million students across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea now avail themselves of Snapask’s services for quality self-directed learning.
 
“The capital injection will help us keep up with this wonderful momentum,” said Timothy Yu, Founder of Snapask. “As more students pursue self-directed learning to complement their schooling, we will develop more products and content to meet their learning needs, create environments in which students can compete and cooperate with peers, and help teachers and students to use data to design individualised learning paths. Cyberport has been an instrumental partner in our five-year journey, for first giving us legs and then wings. We hope to continue this partnership as we scale further afield.”