TUITION centre chain Zenith Learning Group has raised US$1.4 million in seed funding in its bid to expand from physical tuition centres to education technology (edtech).

On Friday (Jul 7), Zenith said it will use the funds for research and development into edtech products and to grow its team, which currently has over 40 teachers.

Investment firm Trihill Capital led the round, which also saw the participation of investors including East Ventures and other family offices and individual angel investors. (* see amendment note below)

Sunil Rai and Alexander Philip from global law firm Dentons advised on the transaction.

Zenith’s leadership team comprises founder and chief executive Evan Heng, head of product Joel Yap, head of commercial Lim Zi Jian, head of education Chester Mark, and chief operating officer Bryan Tan. The startup has six tuition centres in Singapore.

Founded in 2019, the company aims to start a hybrid learning programme for primary school children this year, including brick-and-mortar enrichment centres in Singapore and a gamified online education platform.

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Currently, its first online education platform is in private beta and will be refined based on early user feedback.

“The next phase of our expansion into edtech will see us becoming a more data-driven, hybrid learning service provider,” said Heng.

*Amendment note: An earlier version of this story used the company holding name (Tri Century Holdings) instead of the official fund name (Trihill Capital) which is more accurate.  The company also requested to include the info that it led the round. The article has been revised to reflect this.