In January 2026, Preply stopped being a language learning company people explained politely and started becoming one people leaned in for. Thirteen years after three Ukrainian founders chased a stubborn English problem across borders and bandwidth, Preply closed a $150M Series D at a $1.2B valuation. Barcelona headquartered, New York planted, Kyiv built, London expanding. This was not a spike. This was pressure, sustained, finally acknowledged.
Kirill Bigai did not set out to build a unicorn. He set out to sound fluent. The idea came from friction, not fantasy. Finding real progress meant real humans, not canned phrases and blinking badges. Alongside Dmytro Voloshyn and Serge Lukyanov, the answer became a marketplace where language lived in conversation. November 2012 was the launch. Skype was the classroom. The insight aged well. Human instruction scales when technology stays in its lane.
WestCap led the Series D. Goldman Sachs International ran point as sole placement agent. EBRD, Horizon Capital, Índico Capital Partners, and returning investors followed. The number that landed hardest was not the round size. It was profitability. Preply reached EBITDA positive in the twelve months before the raise while sustaining three times year over year growth for over a decade. Investors tend to listen closely when growth stops shouting and starts cashing checks.
The platform now connects over 100,000 verified tutors across more than 90 languages in over 180 countries. More than 20 million lessons delivered. Millions of learners. About a third of revenue comes from the United States. Annual revenue sits around $84.5 million with a clear path past nine figures. In a $115 billion language learning market moving toward $227 billion, Preply is not chasing volume. It is tuning signal.
The technology does not pretend to replace people. It sharpens them. Over 400 parameters match learners with tutors. AI generates lesson insights, daily exercises, and scenario practice, all in service of better conversations. A 2025 LeanLab study showed learners advancing up to three times faster, with confidence rates north of ninety percent. The punchline is simple. Ninety-six percent said the tutor was essential. Preply heard that years ago.
The leadership bench reads like a company expecting scrutiny. Sofia Tavares shaping brand. Jerry Kingkade driving revenue. Charlie Wickers tightening finance. Josh Crossick on product. Aurélien Pallain on growth. Allen Mask joining the board from WestCap. Seven hundred fifty employees, sixty nationalities, one thesis. Language is not content. It is connection. And Preply is still mid sentence.
