Ukrainian startup Preply closed the $ 10 million round
Ukrainian startup Preply, an international EdTech marketplace for foreign language learning, has closed a new round of $ 10 million, Business Insider reports.
The lead investor was the London-based venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures, in addition to it the round included Point Nine Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital and Diligent Capital. Several angel investors also took part: Arthur Bones from Cooking.com, former Upwork CEO Gary Swart, Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason and Couchsurfing founder Daniel Hoffer.
The company rating is not reported. Total funds raised exceeded $ 15 million
According to the founder of Preply startup Cyril Bigay, EdSurge, the coronavirus should not be an obstacle to the development of a startup, even vice versa: because a large number of people stay at home, they will spend their free time, including to improve their knowledge of languages.
What the investments will go for
The financing will help the company strengthen its position in the markets of North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. In addition, Preply will open a US branch of strategic importance to the project region. The company now has offices in Kyiv and Barcelona.
“The European market is multicultural and well developed. Many people speak or learn two or three foreign languages freely. We transfer our experience in Europe to the USA. We provide Americans with diverse learning opportunities through our list of qualified teachers from Europe, Latin America, Asia”, says Bigay.
Preply also extends the platform filling. The focus of Preply is learning foreign languages. But the company is actively engaging teachers in mathematics, chemistry and creative writing.
Teachers plan to launch new tools. They will help you evaluate homework, monitor progress, and help students more effectively. We are also planning to develop a mobile app for Android and iOS.
Let us remind you that your previous round of startups closed in 2017. At that time, German venture capital fund Point Nine Capital was the main investor. Arthur Costa (Booking.com, 2003-2012), Mariusz Halewski (DocPlanner, Poland), Przemyslaw Gacek (Grupa Pracuj, Poland), RTAVentures VC (Poland), Diligent Capital Partners (Ukraine) and SMRK also invested in the startup (Ukraine).
Source: ain.ua
