China's TAL buys Israeli education games co Codemonkey

Mergers and acquisitions Photo: To Go
Mergers and acquisitions Photo: To Go

The Tel Aviv based company, which teaches children programing skills through games, has been acquired for $20 million.

Israeli educational games startup Codemonkey has announced that it has been acquired by China's giant TAL Education Group for an estimated $20 million, China's Xinhua news agency has reported.

Founded in 2013 and based in Tel Aviv, Codemonkey has developed programing games for children and markets its products in Israel and the US, as well as 10 other countries in Asia, Europe and South America. Through the games, the children gain programming knowledge alongside 21st century skills through collaboratively playing and solving puzzles, inventing, creating and sharing.

Codemonkey has been active in the Israeli education system since 2014. In the past three years, over a quarter of a million students in Israel have used the system in more than 2,000 schools.

After the acquisition, Codemonkey will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary, conducting R&D for the Chinese and other markets.

TAL chairman and CEO Zhang Bangxin said, "Codemonkey is a leading product for learning 21st century programming and skills for children, and we look forward to working with its team to continue the company's success." Codemonkey cofounder and CEO Jonathan Schor said, "TAL Education is an ideal partner for us to accelerate the entry into the Chinese market, a country we have defined as a major target several years ago, while supporting the expansion of operations in the rest of the world."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 6, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

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