Cindy Mi is a Chinese entrepreneur known for founding the education platform VIPKid. Born in Hebei, China, Mi moved to Harbin in northeastern China at the age of 14, where she taught herself English. By the age of 15, she began tutoring other students in English at an extracurricular school organized by her uncle in Heilongjiang Province. Her passion for teaching led her to co-found the tutoring company ABC English with her uncle at the age of 17, after dropping out of high school. While managing the tutoring company, Mi continued her education and earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from Beijing Foreign Language University. She furthered her studies by obtaining an MBA from the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and attended Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management in the United States as an exchange student. In 2013, Mi founded VIPKid, an online platform connecting Chinese students with native English-speaking teachers for one-on-one classes. The platform quickly gained popularity for its innovative approach to language learning. In 2017, she expanded the VIPKid brand by launching LingoBus, a subsidiary that offers Mandarin lessons to students around the world. Mi's work has significantly impacted the field of online education, making language learning accessible and engaging for students globally. Today, as the world's largest K-12 English-language online educator, VIPKid provides lessons to more than 200,000 students.