Funding Boost for Language App: Babbel Raises $22 Million
Global online language learning market leader completes Series C round and secures SEP as new investor
Babbel, the leading app for language learning, today announces the successful completion of a $22 million investment round to drive further growth. The round is led by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) and supported by existing investors Reed Elsevier Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), and VC Fonds Technology Berlin managed by IBB Bet.
The investment will add momentum to the company’s impressive growth, while ensuring the continuation of its cutting-edge product development. Babbel has been profitable since 2011, with its mobile app now seeing up to 120,000 downloads per day. As the global highest grossing language-learning app in both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, Babbel operates a subscription-based business model with a clear focus on consumers outside the realm of formal education. With its recently released app for Apple Watch, the company presents a strong vision for the future of language learning.
“Babbel is defining a new market and revolutionizing the way people learn languages,” says Babbel Inc. President Thomas Holl. “In SEP we’ve gained a high-profile partner that shares our vision of making learning easy and fun for everyone. This investment enables us to fully capitalize on a significant market shift towards self-motivated learning.”
SEP Partner Stuart Paterson, who joins Babbel’s Board of Directors adds: “Babbel sets the standard for online language learning, and its strong international footprint is a reflection of that. We see significant growth potential in this market and are delighted to support the company as it executes its expansion in the Americas.”
Babbel helps people to discover the fun of language learning and motivates them to stick with it. In fact, the average customer continues to use the app for more than 12 months. In order to get users conversational quickly, the company employs a team of education and language experts who create specific courses for each language pair – 14 learning languages and 7 display languages are currently on offer. Babbel is available on the web, for smartphone and tablet, and now for Apple Watch.
About Scottish Equity Partners (SEP)
SEP is a leading venture capital investor in high-growth technology and technology-enabled companies. Operating from offices in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, SEP invests up to £20m in innovative, growth-stage companies with a sharp focus on the IT, healthcare and energy sectors. Notable Internet investments include Skyscanner, Mister Spex, MATCHESFASHION.COM and Zuto.
For further information, see www.sep.co.uk.
About Babbel
Driven by the purpose of creating mutual understanding through language, Babbel has been building digital language learning products for consumers and businesses since 2007. The Babbel app helps people connect and communicate across cultures, whether for travel, friendship, or career advancement. Based on a deep knowledge of how we learn languages, Babbel aims to make learners conversational as fast as possible. And it works: Studies from institutions like Michigan State University, Yale University and the City University of New York demonstrate the efficacy of Babbel's language learning methods. Millions of language learners agree.
Babbel's secret sauce is the blend of true expertise, understanding of how humans learn, and the latest technology. Starting with one of 60,000 lessons across 15 languages hand-crafted by experts, the learner experience constantly adapts through behavior analysis to provide high quality interactive content that makes understanding a new language easy, from Spanish to Indonesian.
Because Babbel is for everyone, its team reflects this diversity. Across headquarters in Berlin and New York, a team from more than 80 nationalities represent the backgrounds and perspectives that make humans unique. With over 25 million subscriptions sold and an industry-leading retention rate, Babbel creates genuine connections with learners worldwide. For more information, visit www.babbel.com or download the apps in the App Store or Play Store.
