Leading language learning app Duolingo has raised $35 million in a new funding round from Durable Capital and General Atlantic.
The new funding has brought the valuation of the Pittsburgh-based company to $2.4 billion, a sizeable jump from $1.65 billion valuation when General Atlantic pumped in $10 million into the company earlier this year.
Founded in 2011, Duolingo is the world’s most popular language learning platform that enables anyone to learn any language for free. It offers 91 interactive and personalized courses across 30 different languages. The platform offers anyone to learn to read, listen, and speak in most of the world’s prominent languages through games and bite-sized lessons. The platform also supports many niche vernaculars and fictional tongues such as Klingon.
With over 30 million monthly active users, Duolingo is one of the most-downloaded educational apps in the world. The company claims its learner base has grown by 30% in the last year, with bookings on track to increase 100%. Duolingo has also witnessed 100% revenue growth for the last three years, and the company has ranked since 2019 as the highest-grossing education app, according to Sensor Tower.
Speaking about the company and its growth, Luis von Ahn, CEO, Duolingo, said in a statement,
“I’m proud of the impact we have achieved while also significantly growing our business.”
Henry Ellenbogen, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Durable Capital Partners LP, said,
“Duolingo is the kind of business that matches what we look for in our investments: they are mission-driven, have a great culture, and great people that can compound significantly over time. Luis is also an incredible entrepreneur, and we’re very excited to partner with Duolingo for their next phase of growth.”
Last year, Duolingo has added to the growth from its core language-learning app with new products, including podcasts for Spanish and French learners, and Duolingo Events, which connect language learners in person around the world. It has also added Duolingo Plus, a subscription-based option for the app that removes ads for users and provides additional features like offline access, for $6.99 per month.
Tanzeen Syed, MD at General Atlantic, also commented on the investment saying,
“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Luis and Duolingo after initially investing in the business in April 2020. Duolingo has successfully built foundational learning technology, an effective and engaging product, and a passionate community of users. We believe the company has additional opportunity to strengthen its market-leading position and expand its product, team, and customer base, while capitalizing on the global acceleration in digital learning.”
Duolingo has in December 2019 raised $30 million in Series F funding round led by Google’s parent company Alphabet’s investment arm CapitalG at $1.5 billion valuation, which made the company become the first Pittsburgh-based tech startup to reach unicorn status.
