Speakeasy Labs, the developer of the AI English learning solution “Speak,” has successfully secured its Series B3 investment of KRW 30 billion. This recent funding round values the company at approximately KRW 700 billion, positioning it among potential unicorns. Buckley Ventures led the round with participation from new strategic investors, including Paul Graham and Jeff Weiner, joining the team. Existing investors, such as the OpenAI Startup Fund and Khosla Ventures, also participated in this round.
Founded in 2019, Speak is an AI-based English-speaking application that uses voice recognition technology. It moves away from traditional rote vocabulary and grammar learning, instead fostering confident English conversation through learning and repeating speaking patterns suited to specific situations. It is used by over 10 million people across more than 40 countries, with the user base more than doubled annually over the last five years.
Speaking on the fundraising, Connor Nikolai Zwick, CEO of Speak, said:
For the past seven years, Speak has been addressing the fundamental challenges of English learning, and our AI model is crucial to replicating the experience of one-on-one sessions with native speakers. This investment will further enhance our interface, propelling Speak to become the leading English learning app worldwide.
The startup believes language learning is among the most transformative and enriching experiences. It allows one to interact with people from different cultures, enhance one’s financial situation, and lead a generally better life.
According to the company, it secured significant funding by demonstrating the business viability and technical prowess of its AI language learning platform. Earlier this year, Speak improved its speech recognition model using its own audio datasets, reducing the word error rate (WER) by over 60% and enhancing processing speed by 20%.
Since beginning with a seed investment in 2016, Speak has raised KRW 70 billion in Series A and B investments by 2022. Following last year’s Series B2, this fresh KRW 30 billion investment cemented its image as a rising unicorn, increasing the total to KRW 115 billion.
