Gecipe Closes Series B at ¥660 Million for Gaming English Lessons

Gecipe, the Japanese startup behind the online English conversation service eSpi!, announced on October 28 that it has completed the final round of its Series B. Across the whole Series B, the company has raised ¥660 million in total, counting both equity and loans. It did not disclose the size of the final round alone or the split between equity and debt.

Existing shareholder Japan Venture Capital invested again. New investors and lenders include Kyoto Capital Partners, Colopl Next, SBI Okasan Alternative Investments, Resona Bank and the Japan Finance Corporation.

Learning English inside games

eSpi! teaches spoken English while students play games such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox. Lessons run over Discord voice chat in groups of three to four people, with each session lasting 80 minutes. The fee is ¥10,890 per month including tax for four lessons, and more than 200 bilingual coaches work with the company.

Gecipe says it launched the service in 2020, when the pandemic reduced outings and learning opportunities while time spent gaming at home rose. Since launch, it reports more than 600,000 lessons delivered, a retention rate above 96% and over 95,000 customer reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 as of September this year.

Schools, municipalities and companies

Beyond individual users, Gecipe has launched an education-DX program for municipal schools, and several local governments have already adopted it. Washimiya Elementary School in Kuki City has also held classes using eSpi!. For working adults, the company offers a reskilling course that turns English knowledge learned at school into practical speaking ability, and for businesses it tailors cost, headcount and lesson frequency to each request.

The new funds will go toward expanding its immersive education-DX business, developing new educational services, and hiring staff and strengthening the organization.