YY acquires famous English teacher and tech team to expand online education offerings

Unless you’ve studied English in China, you’ve probably never heard of Zheng Renqiang. But in a country where English as a second language is compulsory, Zheng is renowned as the best IELTS teacher in the biz, and an expert in online education. Now, Zheng will be plying his trade for Chinese tech company YY’s online education subsidiary, which has acquired Zheng and his Beijing-based education tech company. An official sum has not been disclosed, but Techweb reports that word on the street is the acquisition cost YY RMB 300 million (US$38 million).

Zheng and his team will be folded into a new product called “100 Online School” from YY education subsidiary 100 Education. 100 Online School focuses on teaching English – especially standardized test prep – online, and its website boasts that it features lectures from “the most top teachers.”

The market for English classes in China is massive, even though all students theoretically have free access to English classes via public schools. Overall, the English teaching market in China was worth more than US$3 billion as of 2010, and it is almost certainly worth even more today. Test-specific classes, like the IELTS prep that Zheng specializes in, make up a significant proportion of that market.

Zheng and his team are likely only a piece of YY’s online education puzzle, though. Before the acquisition， rumors were abundant that YY was targeting several acquisitions in this space, and following it Techweb reports that insiders still expect the company to make additional acquisitions to bolster 100 Online School.

See: Taiwanese education app startup QLL nabs $450k in funding from B Dash Ventures