Ukrainian-founded, US-headquartered Preply has raised an additional $70 million in equity and debt capital, which takes its Series C funding to $120 million. The round was led by growth equity firm Horizon Capital, with participation by Reach Capital, Hoxton Ventures (which backed Qflow and Bright Biotech), and other existing investors.
The new bench and existing investors, including Owl Ventures who led the first close of the Series C round in 2022, provide a valuable balance of growth stage experience and edtech expertise to help power the next leg of Preply’s journey. With this funding, Preply has launched an AI assistant for tutors and develops personalised learning tools.
Dmytro Boroday, Partner at Horizon Capital, commented, “We are excited to partner with Preply’s visionary co-founders and their exceptional management team. Preply is one of the fastest growing global edtech brands, now leading the live language learning category. With a culture of operational excellence and superb performance over the past few years, we are proud to support them as they enter the next stage of growth.”
James Kim, Partner at Reach Capital commented, “Preply is the clear leader in live language learning, a sector where we have both appetite and deep experience. We’re thrilled to partner with them as they continue to expand and grow. AI has enormous potential to improve the effectiveness of tutors and the experience of learners, and Preply is on the leading edge of incorporating AI into the learning journey.”
"The additional funds will enable us to extend our leadership in the category through AI-powered human tutors, providing a learning experience that is quickly becoming a game changer."
Kirill Bigai, Co-founder and CEO of Preply, said, “It’s a great achievement to have secured this capital injection while we still have plenty of runway and the majority of the previous raise in the bank; a result of rigorous capital efficiency and a laser focus on performance. The additional funds will enable us to extend our leadership in the category through AI-powered human tutors, providing a learning experience that is quickly becoming a game changer. Though the team today is truly global, as a Ukrainian-founded company with significant R&D in Ukraine, this is a milestone to be celebrated. One that echoes the resilience and determination of the Ukrainian tech sector and all Ukrainians”
Founded in the United States in 2012 by three Ukrainian founders Kirill Bigai, Serge Lukyanov, and Dmytro Voloshyn, Preply is an online language learning marketplace, connecting tutors to hundreds of thousands of learners in 180 countries worldwide. Its AI-based teaching assistant enables tutors to create a variety of exercises, grammar explanations, conversation starters and more. Tutors are using this AI tool during and in between classes to support homework setting and lesson planning, freeing them up to focus on higher-level teaching tasks that require more human input.
In addition, Preply actively analyses data on student performance and learning patterns in order to identify areas where students are struggling. The goal is to develop personalised lesson plans and summaries that address a learner’s individual needs, as well as share insights with the tutor community as to how the best lessons and learning outcomes are achieved.
With almost 500 employees of 60 nationalities across 30 countries worldwide, Preply has become a global e-learning powerhouse that connects 35,000 tutors with the world’s largest live language learning community.
