PR83474

LONDON, Mar. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

Online learning platform, Preply, (https://preply.com/ ) today announces an additional

USD $10 million of funding, doubling the total raised in its' previous rounds.

The funding will be invested to grow the Preply network of 10,000 verified tutors teaching

50 languages to tens of thousands of students in 190 countries worldwide. The round was led

by London-based Hoxton Ventures, with participation from European investors Point Nine

Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital, and Diligent Capital. A number of individual

angel investors also participated including Arthur Kosten of Booking.com; Gary Swart,

former CEO of Upwork; David Helgason, Founder of Unity technologies; and Daniel Hoffer,

Founder of Couchsurfing.

As life goes virtual for people all over the world, teachers and students

globally have flocked to online language learning. The company witnessed a

record number of daily hours booked on the platform this week. The number of

tutors registering on Preply has rocketed in regions such as the U.S., U.K.,

Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Over the past seven days, some countries have

seen the number of tutor registrations triple, compared to the same period in

February, and the number of hours students are booking on the platform has

doubled in many parts of the globe.

Preply was founded in 2013 by the Ukrainian-based team of Kirill Bigai (CEO),

Serge Lukyanov (Head of Design) and Dmytro Voloshyn (CTO). The company now

employs 125 staff of 25 nationalities in Kyiv and Barcelona with revenues

having grown tenfold in the last three years. Preply's pioneering innovation

was to use machine-learning to increase the efficiency of pairing tutors with

learners, wherever they are in the world, making smarter connections and

cracking the code of effective language learning.

To date, two million classes have been taken with teachers of 160

nationalities. The vast majority of learners are using Preply for professional

purposes such as moving abroad or to advance their careers. Others are using

it recreationally - helping their child learn a new language, for example, or

indulging a passion to master a new skill. Through Preply, the unparalleled

global supply of tutors means that if you're in Berlin, for example, and want

to learn Japanese, you can easily find a language expert at a time and price

point that's convenient for you. This solves the 'rush hour challenge' that

occurs with live teaching; most learners prefer taking classes before or after

work which means that there are limited number of slots or tutors available.

The average price of a lesson on Preply is $15 to $20 per hour. For tutors,

Preply has provided a uniquely flexible and secure way to generate income while

no longer being limited by locale. With no need to host students at home, or

waste time travelling, tutors can operate at maximum efficiency from anywhere

in the world.

As education moves increasingly online, many of our tutors report having honed

a new suite of skills, including relying less on body language and adjusting

fully to making a human connection online, rather than in-person. From a

payment perspective, one definitive advantage of the platform for tutors is

that they are always paid straight after the lesson, never having to waste time

chasing payment or risk not being paid at all. Students enter their bank

account details when they register and tutors can take money out of their

Preply account at any time. All earnings are broken down in a comprehensive

personal performance dashboard so tutors can analyse their business in a

meaningful way.

Using the new funding, the company plans to scale the marketplace, mainly in

North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. There are plans to

roll out an array of new tools, assessments and homework. Using Preply's wealth

of data-learnings, tutors will be able to smart-track progress and help learners achieve

their goals most quickly and comprehensively. Preply wants to engage and enable tutors

to develop alongside the platform, giving them the opportunity to explore training and

lessons plans so they can streamline their income and maximize their classes.

The new funding will also give Preply the opportunity to develop its mobile offering,

streamlining the Android and iOS app to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

In addition, the company aims to deepen roots in the U.S. and open an American office

by the end of the year. Preply's European genesis and global tutor supply plays a significant

role in its ability to compete in this strategic region.

Kirill Bigai, CEO of Preply, comments on the company's ambitions, "The new

funding allows us to bring a more in-depth, immersive and convenient experience

to both tutors and learners all over the world. Today, we are laser focused on

language learning, but ultimately, I envision a future where anyone can learn

anything using Preply."

Rob Kniaz of Hoxton Ventures, comments "Getting to know Kirill and the team at

Preply we were most impressed with their tremendous growth already in the US

market as well as the size of the global market in online language tutoring.

We believe the team has vast opportunity ahead of it, especially in the English-learning

segment of the market where Preply already demonstrates market leadership."

All images and logos can be found here:

(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HPBs334Ely56p33d_r1ZLMPRIaXDtWj0 ).

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1138656/Preply_Founders.jpg 

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1138657/preply_Logo.jpg 

SOURCE: Preply