language learning
Speak, the AI-powered language learning app, has raised new money from investors at double its previous valuation.
Google is testing a new “Speaking practice” feature in Search that helps users improve their conversational English skills. The company told TechCrunch that the feature is available to English learners…
This week Becca and Dom are joined by Markus Witte, the co-founder of the language learning platform Babbel.
Google’s gunning for Duolingo with a new Google Search feature designed to help people practice — and improve — their English speaking skills. Rolling out over the next few days…
Promova, the language learning app with more than 11 million users, today launched “Dyslexia Mode,” which uses a specialized typeface called Dysfont so people with dyslexia can learn a new…
Babbel, the popular subscription-based language learning service, today announced that it has acquired Toucan, the well-funded language learning browser extension. Toucan, it turns out, wound down as a company earlier…
Speak, an English language learning platform backed by OpenAI’s startup investment fund, the OpenAI Startup Fund, today announced that it raised $16 million in a Series B-2 funding round led…
Preply, the language app known for its live tutors, closes out Series C at $120M and doubles down on AI
Language learning platform Preply made a name for itself for connecting students with a selection of some 35,000 tutors and group classes across some 50 languages. Now it’s looking to…
Loora, a generative AI app that uses an audio interface to help users learn English, raises $9.25M
The jury is still out on whether AI adoption really will spell the end of humanity as we know it, but in the meantime, we continue to see a boom…
Speak, an English language learning platform with AI-powered features, today announced that it raised $27 million in a Series B funding round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, with participation…
EWA, which taps into popular media to teach languages, hits 51M downloads and 3.5M MAUs and raises its first outside funding
Online language learning continues to be a huge opportunity for startups, with the most engaging experiences meeting a surge of interest from consumers looking for more productivity out of the…
When Anada Lakra and Ilya Usorov first moved to the United States, they struggled to find their voices. They both knew and understood English, but when it came time to…
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. We were a smaller team this week, with…
Featured Article
Duolingo can’t teach you how to speak a language, but now it wants to try
Duolingo has been wildly successful. It has pulled in 500 million total registered learners, 40 million active users, 1.5 million premium subscribers and $190 million in booked revenues in 2020. It has a popular and meme-ified mascot in the form of the owl Duo, a creative and engaging product, and…
Word nerds with a love for linguistic curiosities and novel nomenclature that’s more fulsome than their ability to make interesting new terms stick will be thrilled by Yak Tack: A…
Lingoda, an on-demand online language school with live instructors and Zoom classrooms, raises $68M
A startup out of Berlin that’s built and grown a successful online language learning platform based around live teachers and virtual classrooms is announcing some funding today to continue expanding…
Preply, a tutoring marketplace for language learning, has raised a $35 million Series B co-led by Full In Partners and Owl Ventures, an edtech fund that has backed Byju’s and…
Fluent Forever, a startup that uses a novel learning system to help its users master a new language faster, has raised a $4.9 million funding round led by Denver-based Stout…
Last week, we reported that popular language learning app Duolingo, with 500 million total app downloads, was raising $35 million on a valuation of at least $2.21 billion — the…
Language learning company Reverso is launching its desktop app for macOS and Windows. Like on mobile, it lets you access a translation dictionary and get examples in context. The company…
Featured Article
Duolingo CEO explains language app’s surge in bookings
Language learning apps, like many educational technology platforms, soared when millions of students went home in response to safety concerns from the coronavirus pandemic. It makes sense: Everyone became an online learner in some capacity, and for non-frontline workers, each day became an opportunity to squeeze in a new skill…
The Berlin-based startup behind Tandem, an app for practicing a second language, has closed a £4.5 million (~$5.7 million) Series A round of financing to capitalize on growth opportunities it’s…
Babbel, the Berlin-based paid language learning app, today announced that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is making its service available for free to all K-12 and college students…
Microsoft’s new language learning app uses your phone’s camera and computer vision to teach vocabulary
Eight Microsoft interns have developed a new language learning tool that uses the smartphone camera to help adults improve their English literacy by learning the words for the things around…
Drops, the game-based language learning app, has announced Native Hawaiian as the newest addition to the app’s 30-language selection. With just under 300 Native Hawaiian speakers worldwide, according to the…
Duolingo today launched one of its biggest updates in recent years. The company is introducing a range of new exercise types, as well as a new leveling system that lets…
If you’re a real Star Wars Star Trek fan, chances are you’ve always dreamt of learning Klingon. It’s one of the most lovely and melodic tongues in the pantheon of fake…
ELSA, an app whose name stands for “English Language Speech Assistant” (and not the popular Disney character!), has raised $3.2 million for its A.I.-assisted language learning platform that teaches people…
Earlier this year, Duolingo launched its Japanese course, which marked the first time the popular language learning service offered support for an Asian language. Since then, it’s also launched support…
Translation earbuds might eliminate some utilitarian reasons to know a language, but if you want to understand jokes, read poetry, or fall in love in a foreign tongue, you’ll have…
