Preply, the world’s leading online language tutoring platform, has recently raised a $35 million Series B investment as the demand for language learning continues to grow. With the company already having a presence in 150 countries, the new funding will expand its reach and bring language learning opportunities to more people worldwide.
In this article, we will explore the reasons behind Preply’s success and the growing demand for language learning:
Overview of Preply’s growth
Preply, a world-leading language learning platform, has experienced significant growth in demand over recent years as more users are accessing the platform online to find and connect with private tutors. Users of the platform include those who want to learn a new language effectively and those who want to improve their current language skills.
The Preply Platform offers an in-depth search for finding tutors for any language. You can find tutors according to their rating, price per hour, and experience. All Preply teachers have much experience teaching languages on different platforms but have decided to join Preply due to its user-friendly platform and well-structured process.
Further, Preply Tailored Learning provides users with tailored learning solutions that focus on rapid improvement of a particular language problem while reducing the time spent in learning; this synchronised approach encourages users to learn a foreign language faster than ever before.
This innovative model of approaching foreign learning speaks not only for its efficacy but also for its continuous rising demand among millions of learners and experts worldwide. Furthermore, the increasing number of students opting for personalised courses or customised courses offered by Preply is indicative of how well rooted the platform has become in providing cost-effective solutions for all kinds of international language learners.
Preply raises a $35 million Series B as demand for language learning grows
Preply, a platform that provides tutoring services, has secured a $35 million Series B funding as demand for language courses rises. This is the latest fundraiser for the company and comes as more people are turning to online tutoring to improve their language skills.
Let’s explore the details and implications of Preply’s Series B fundraising:
Overview of the funding
Preply has recently secured a $50 million series B funding to further its mission of providing quality language learning experiences to students across the globe. This marks a significant step forward in Preply’s journey towards transforming the language learning industry.
The round was led by Advance, a venture capital firm that backed Preply in its initial round of funding. Other notable investors included NY CA Ventures (formerly RTPVentures) and Software Guarantee Investment from Sberbank. These investors have recognized the global demand for personalised language learning and have provided additional resources to help Preply develop more comprehensive language courses and technologies.
Concurrent with the investment, Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal joined the company as its ninth board member, underscoring the importance of this latest development in Preply’s exciting trajectory.
The new capital will be used to:
- Expand existing course offerings.
- Develop innovative teaching tools.
- Introduce new forms of payment convenience to both students and teachers.
Preply plans on using this investment to make an even bigger global impact on teaching and learning languages.
Investors involved in the funding
Preply, a language learning platform, has recently announced the closing of its Series B funding of $60M. This brings the total amount raised by the company to over $100M and makes the startup one of the leaders in online language learning. This latest round was led by forces such as Iconiq Growth and Level Equity, backed by groups like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock.
The additional capital will go towards furthering Preply’s mission to provide world-class instruction to adults on an affordable budget. Preply intends to leverage this capital to continue its research-backed initiatives and optimise its global product portfolio of language learning solutions. In addition, Preply plans on utilising its new investments to expand into new global markets and develop cutting-edge features for its tutoring platform.
Together with their existing investors such as Point Nine Capital and several others, Preply is well on track for driving solid growth numbers in 2020. In 2019 alone, the company witnessed 10 times growth in revenue from the starting year and processed more than 12M lessons between students from all over the world. With a successful series B, Preply is set to become a global market leader in language learning solutions for adults.
Demand for Language Learning
Recent news of Preply’s successful Series B round has highlighted the growing demand for language learning services. As a result, Preply can raise $35 million in funding to help develop and expand their platform further.
This increased interest in language learning is driven by several factors, from cultural change to technological advances. In today’s article, we’re going to explore the reasons for this newfound demand for language learning:
Benefits of language learning
Learning a new language is more than an academic challenge; it offers real-life benefits. Those who learn a language often reap a lifetime of personal, educational, and professional rewards. The advantages apply to everyone regardless of age or previous experience with language learning.
On an individual level, those who take up language learning find that the process enhances their confidence and communication skills. This success even carries over into other areas of life, like problem solving and multitasking abilities. Both professionals and students benefit from boosting their communications skills in one or more languages.
Whether you’re in school or need to communicate with people from different cultures at work, speaking multiple languages opens up incredibly valuable opportunities for successful career options anywhere in the world. Differentiates you from other people in your field and helps you build connections with non-native speaking partners worldwide – even from completely different industries.
Jobs that are particularly well-suited for multilingual employees include:
- Tourism roles (travel agent or interpreter)
- Freelance translation functions (journals, government documents)
- International customer service representatives (airlines)
- Marketing roles (promoting international brands)
In essence, because language learning is quickly becoming essential to virtually every industry – both nationally and internationally – having tonal fluency brings a certain versatility to each project encountered by multilinguals turned professionals seeking alternative job experiences around the world they may not have had access to if they were only uni/bilingualism.
Reasons for increased demand
Learning a new language is no longer a novelty; it has become necessary in today’s globalised world. As a result, the demands for learning new languages are constantly growing, especially in certain sectors of the economy. Reasons for this include:
- The need for foreign language skills to access new markets: As businesses expand into overseas markets, there is an increasing need to let potential customers know that their products and services are available in their language. By learning the local language, businesses can expand their customer base and increase sales opportunities.
- The need to communicate effectively with colleagues across borders: To effectively collaborate with colleagues, it pays to communicate in their native language or at least understand key conversation points. This includes building relationships with staff and partners from around the globe.
- Job requirements often include foreign language skills: Many companies populate their team with skilled professionals who possess fluency or at least working knowledge of different languages; this helps them access potential candidates around the world and provides more career paths for job seekers when searching overseas.
- Cultural understanding is important: To truly understand someone else’s culture, it also helps to understand their native language. When people learn another’s they’re able to broaden their worldview as they gain insights into local customs, mannerism and curiosities. Language is an integral part of culture – picking up another tongue can open up a whole world of understanding that exists far beyond what one already knows.
Preply’s Growth Strategy
Preply, an online language learning platform, has successfully raised a $35 million Series B round, as demand for language learning continues to rise. The round, led by the London based VC fund Partech, was backed by Berlin based VCs Project A and Speedinvest. This latest investment will allow Reply to expand their product offering and grow their global presence.
Let’s take a closer look at Replies growth strategy and how it has enabled them to capture a larger share of the language learning market.
Expansion of services
In the expanding language-learning sector, Preply is focussing on expanding its services. In 2020, Preply introduced Preply Space – an online platform enabling tutors and students to meet and interact virtually by video. The platform makes it possible for anyone to learn any language and provides connection between tutors and students, as well as video conferencing software for teaching and studying. Thanks to this innovation of their services, Preply created a comprehensive learning experience that doesn’t require physical presence in a classroom.
The company is also diversifying the types of classes offered beyond language-teaching: ranging from art classes to yoga sessions. This effort on Preply’s part takes advantage of the new remote-first world structure all while reaching further demand through added educational subject options. Furthermore, by investing heavily in AI and machine learning technology, the company has been helping teach English better at scale across language schools, governments and corporations worldwide.
Finally, apart from training teachers globally with its teacher quality program TQP – aimed at standardising tutorial techniques across countries – Preply is debuting new contents every month such as audio stories or courses to stay ahead with trends where technology changes quickly. All these strategies have helped create growth prospects along with many high-quality teachers who can teach their students even when distance learning remains prevalent due to Covid-19 safety measures.
Use of technology
Preply is leveraging technology to meet the growing language learning demand by developing robust online platforms. This includes developing their Video Calling feature which allows students and teachers to connect easily and effectively via a web-based interface. Additionally, Preply’s Reputation Verification System gives students and parents virtual confidence when selecting a teacher, as it tests for competence, professionalism and availability.
Furthermore, Preply offers several additional features such as AI-powered chatbots which can help provide personalised support in addition to multi-dialect chat that provides support in multiple languages, ensuring everyone has access to the language learning experience.
The use of technology has been instrumental in Preply’s growth strategy; the company currently has over 1 million teachers offering classes in 20+ language pairs across 166 countries whereby Preply takes care of the connections between students and teachers so that language learners can concentrate on building their problem-solving skills rather than navigating customer support channels.
tags = tutoring marketplace for language learning, edtech fund, preply series full in owl venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply series full in partners venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply series in partners owl venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply series full partners venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply 35m full partners venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply series in partners venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply 35m series in owl venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply 35m series full in venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply full in partners venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, preply 35m in partners owl venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, , preply 35m series full owl venturesmascarenhastechcrunch, language learning app, e-learning platform