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TikTok owner ByteDance consolidates education products under new Dali brand

  • ByteDance, with a valuation of US$140 billion, has rolled out at least nine education products since 2018
  • The Beijing-based tech unicorn on Thursday launched a smart lamp under its Dali brand

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ByteDance unveils its new smart lamp, a device under its Dali education business, at a press conference in Beijing on October 29. Louis Yang (at right), the head of Dali’s smart lamp product team, says the device allows parents to help their children with their studies. Photo: Handout
Coco FengandTracy Qu
ByteDance, owner of popular short video-sharing app TikTok, has consolidated its education business under the new Dali brand, as the Chinese tech unicorn moves to further diversify its operations.
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Dali, which translates to “great strength” in Chinese, “will take over all of ByteDance’s education products”, said Chen Lin, the new business unit’s chief executive, at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

Chen, formerly chief executive of the company’s Jinri Toutiao news platform, said the creation of a stand-alone education business would better differentiate those products from other apps in ByteDance’s portfolio.

ByteDance – with a valuation of US$140 billion, according to CB Insights – has rolled out at least nine education products since 2018, including English-learning platforms for adults to multi-subject courses for children from grades one to 12.

06:02

Global expansion of TikTok and other Chinese tech companies is likely, only not in the West

Global expansion of TikTok and other Chinese tech companies is likely, only not in the West

The launch of Dali – a name that comes from a popular meme on China’s social media several years ago – may put a fresh spin on ByteDance’s education efforts, which have experienced setbacks.

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Gogokid, one of the company’s most popular English-tutoring platforms, laid off employees in April last year, according to a report by local magazine China Entrepreneur.

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