German startup Babbel has raised $22 million to help people learn new languages
REUTERS/Christian Charisius
Babbel, which was launched by German company Lesson Nine GmBH back in 2007, now has a website and app which give people the option of learning Spanish, French, German, English, Italian, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Dutch, Indonesian, Danish, or Norwegian.
Babbel lets people learn their chosen language using a number of tools, including speech recognition to help them with pronunciation. It also employs a team of education and language experts who create specific courses for each language pair. The company says its app sees 120,000 downloads per day, thanks to a new version that has been released for the Apple Watch.
Babbel plans to use this latest investment to keep developing its product and chasing growth, especially across the US. The company opened its first office in the US in January this year, and says it has 350 employees in its Berlin and New York offices.
The company says it has been profitable since 2011, offering subscriptions ranging from $13 a month down to $7 a month when paid annually.
Babbel raised another $10 million round of funding in 2013, and saw another "significant" but undisclosed investment back in 2008, Venturebeat reports.
This latest round was led by Scottish Equity Partners, and supported by existing investors Reed Elsevier Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), and VC Fonds Technology Berlin, which is managed by IBB Bet.
SEP partner Stuart Patterson will also join the company's board of directors.
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