Onion Math takes online lessons to remote school

Onion Math, a Chinese online education startup, is bringing its teaching resources to remote schools in rural China in a bid to improve the quality of education in poverty-stricken areas.

Founded in late 2013 in Beijing, Onion Math provides online lessons to Chinese youth in primary and secondary schools. It creates interesting educational videos to explain complex mathematical theories and equations, and trains students to solve math problems through games. The company gained 120 million yuan ($19.1 million) in a series C investment round on Feb 28, adding the total investment value to approximately 300 million yuan.

One of the places Onion Math reached out to is Zhaojue County, located on a plateau in the southern extremity of Sichuan province, an approximately three hour drive from Xichang, the nearest city. There are 70 schools in the county, and one of them is built on a hilltop, called the "cliff school". Students of the cliff school must take on an 800-meter rock face, scrambling down rickety ladders and clawing their way over bare rocks as they go to school.