London-based venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures was the lead investor. Point Nine Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital, and Diligent Capital also participated in the round along with angel investors: Arthur Kosten from Booking.com; Gary Swart, ex-CEO of Upwork; David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies; and Danielle Hoffer, founder of Couchsurfing.
The company’s valuation is not disclosed. The total amount of funds raised exceeds $15 million.
According to the founder of the startup Kirill Bigai, the coronavirus should not become a problem for the development of the startup, even on the contrary: a large number of people left home, they will spend their free time to improve on their language skills.
The funding will help the company strengthen its position in North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK. Besides, Preply will open a branch in the United States, a strategically important region for the project. Currently, Preply has offices in Kyiv and Barcelona.
“The European market is multicultural and quite developed. A lot of people speak fluently or learn two or three foreign languages. We bring our experience in Europe to the U.S. We offer Americans a variety of learning opportunities thanks to our qualified tutors from Europe, Latin America, and Asia,” Bigai says.
Preply also expands the platform. Preply focuses on the learning of foreign languages. But the company actively attracts math, chemistry, and creative writing tutors.
The startup plans to launch new tools for its tutors. They will help to track learners’ progress with new assessments and homework. The company plans to develop a mobile application for Android and iOS.
To recap, the startup closed its previous round in 2017. Back then, the lead investor was the German venture capital firm Point Nine Capital. Artur Kosten (Booking.com, 2003-2012), Mariusz Gralewski (DocPlanner, Poland), Przemysław Gacek (Grupa Pracuj, Poland), as well as companies RTAVentures VC (Poland), Diligent Capital Partners (Ukraine), and SMRK (Ukraine) also have invested in the startup.
