NPX Point Avenue, an education technology firm headquartered in Singapore, announced that it has raised US$12 million in its series A funding round, which was led by Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital.
Founded in 2018, NPX Point Avenue aims to offer students in Vietnam, Thailand, and across Southeast Asia international-level education at cost-effective rates. Catering to the K-12 private bilingual school and after-school training markets, the company specializes in English learning courses, test preparation, admissions consulting, debate coaching, life coaching, leadership camps, and soft skills training.
Inspired after Stanford Online High School, NPX Point Avenue’s services are available via its live-school tool or hybrid learning platform, which includes online learning and brick-and-mortar facilities. It offers livestreamed classes and enables students to complete assignments and receive individual feedback from instructors, who are from Vietnam and the US.
With this funding, the edtech company aims to develop its hybrid learning-focused platform, K-12 bilingual private schools, and K-12 hybrid academies in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang.
For the hybrid academies, NPX Point Avenue will be partnering with real estate developers for long-term leases – around 50 years – with a fixed rental rate on properties in areas allocated for the development of schools. The company is looking to expand this model to other cities across Vietnam.
While NPX Point Avenue’s real estate partners will develop the properties according its specifications and requirements, the management of the schools will be handled by the startup itself.
It is also planning to double its current headcount of around 150 employees by hiring more teaching staff and expanding its engineering team, which is based in South Korea.
NPX Point Avenue was established by brothers Danny and Samuel Hwang, and Cuong Nguyen, a former Goldman Sachs executive. The Hwangs are co-CEOs of the startup, with Samuel also serving as the chief technology officer. Meanwhile, Nguyen is the firm’s chief operating officer.
Prior to NPX Point Avenue, the brothers co-founded New Pathway Education and Technology Group in China. The platform offered online and offline learning for language training and test preparation courses as well as standardized tests required by overseas universities and colleges.
In 2014, the Hwang’s sold New Pathway to CVC Capital Partners, as part of the bolt-on acquisition growth strategy with EIC Education, one of the top providers of English learning and study abroad services in China.
NPX Point Avenue is tapping into the Vietnamese edtech market, which is expected to be worth US$3 billion by 2023, according to market intelligence firm Ken Research.
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