In an oversubscribed fundraising campaign, Australian EdTech firm Zookal prepares for expansion in Asia.

Australian Edtech company Zookal has raised $15m AUD in Series B funding and is planning to use the capital to expand its Asian market operations, triple the size of its engineering team and bolster its senior management team.  The investment round was led by Koh Boon Hwee, former Chairman of Singapore Airlines, Bernard Sabrier, Chairman of Unigestion, and Wee Hur Holdings Ltd.

The Zookal platform currently serves 750,000 people and the company is hoping to increase its global user base following an initial expansion in Asia.  According to Crunchbase, Zookal previously raised $1.8 AUD million in 2013 as part of a Series A fundraising campaign.

Zookal was founded in 2011 by university students that wanted a better solution for obtaining textbooks.  Their idea was to create a rental system for budget concious students.  The platform became very successful and quickly turned into a business.

In the intervening years, the company has continued to grow and now operates across South-East Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.  It provides a variety of digital services to customers including videos, e-textbooks and the opportunity to purchase physical textbooks.

“ Over the past eight years we have saved students tens of millions of dollars on their educational costs and provide services to 750,000 users across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines… South East Asia is a very attractive market with our digital users growing to 300,000 in just eight months. Our goal is to reach 10 million students in the coming years as Asia comes online by making education more affordable and accessible to them. ” Ahmed Haider, Co-Founder & CEO Zookal

Zookal CEO and Co-Founder commented that the company is aiming to generate $35 million AUD this year after earning $25 million AUD in 2019.

Further information on Zookal is available here: https://www.zookal.com/about

You can read more about EdTech here: https://global-edtech.com/edtech-definitions-products-and-trends/