Dec 15, 2010

Woburn, Mass.-based 8D World has added $5.25 million in Series B funding to its fold in an effort to ramp up development for its flagship product Wiz World Online, the company announced.

New investor, Japan-based Mizuho Capital, contributed to this round, as did Spark Capital and Gobi Partners, both existing investors.

“With the new funding, we will continue to extend our product leadership by incorporating a wide range of educational content onto the Wiz World Online platform and at the same time, aggressively grow the distribution network to bring more English learners to the 8D World family,” Chief Executive Officer Alex Wang said in a company release.

Wiz World Online is the very first immersive virtual world designed for English-as-aforeign/ second-language (EFL/ESL) learners. Since its launch, 8D World has significantly expanded its product suite and distribution network.

“We have been very pleased with our investment in 8D World as the company has hit all of its milestones,” Gobi Partners’ Lawrence Tse said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to their continued growth in China and beyond.”

8D World has already established partnerships outside China, and with its innovative English education platform and scalable business model, Wiz World will be able to expand into many markets in Asia and beyond.

In a cross-global interview with DailyVista, Wang, who is currently in Shanghai, China, noted that a significant portion of 8D World’s new funding will be directed towards beefing up sales and marketing efforts.

“In the near term, we are putting more efforts into building the brand awareness for Wiz World Online,” he said. “Take P&G as an example – probably more people know its product names more than its company name.”

Our source said that 8D World would like to build the company into a global education service provider that offers multiple service lines beyond English or even language education.

“This round of funding will certainly help us moving in that direction,” Wang said.

8D World has a very interesting media model, tending to sway more toward B-to-B-to-C as opposed to other more traditional channels. Our source said that schools are more inclined to become 8D World’s primary partners.