Preply

Founding and early growth

Preply was founded in 2012 by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Serge Lukianov, Kirill Bigai, and Dmytro Voloshyn. Together they developed the first version of preply.com, which was launched in November 2012.^[1][7] On August 31, 2013, Preply received an angel investment of $180,000. Some of the named investors in the funding round were Semyon Dukach, Borya Shakhnovich, Vadim Yasinovsky, Dan Pasko, Torben Majgaard and Vostok Ventures.^[8] Preply's first expansion took place in its founding year, when it began expanding into the markets of other countries of Eastern Europe, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia.^[8] It was influenced by Bigai’s experience studying English online with a tutor, which he thought was more flexible and cost-effective.^[1] In the summer of 2012, the founders launched Preply as an online marketplace for live, personalized language learning.^[1] The company sought to differentiate itself from traditional language learning methods by focusing on real-time interaction and individualized instruction.^[9]

In its first three years, Preply experienced a notable growth in both employee headcount and financial performance. In 2016, the employee count reached 100, marking a seven-fold increase in less than three years. In June 2016, Preply raised $1.3 million in funding from investors including Techstars, SMRK VCDigital and Arthur Kosten and the Preply platform was updated with a new ranking algorithm based on machine learning and used for classifying and recommending tutors.^[10][11] At the time, the company did not operate its own videoconferencing technology; instead, lessons were conducted through third-party platforms such as Skype.^[12]

Expansion and funding

Preply Classroom, formerly known as Preply Space, was launched as the all-in-one language ecosystem. Classroom provided integrated video, online chat, screen sharing and other useful features.^[13] The company also closed another round of funding during the same year.^[14]

In 2019, Preply entered the Spanish market and opened an office in Barcelona, then expanded further in European, including the United Kingdom and Germany.^[15] It also launched its B2B division, known as Preply Business. This followed growing demand in the sector from companies seeking tailored language training solutions that could be used by their employees.

In March 2020, TechCrunch reported that Preply saw record daily hours booked and spikes in tutor registrations in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain during early COVID‑19 pandemic school closures.^[16]

By March 2021, Preply had facilitated more than 10 million lessons and listed about 40,000 tutors across 190 countries,^[17] and had raised a cumulative $50.6 million over eight funding rounds.^[18][19] At the time, it employed about 250 people and operated offices in Kyiv and Barcelona.^[18]

Recent developments

In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in support of Ukraine, a message of support was projected onto the Warsaw Spire building in Warsaw, Poland.^[20] It also provided free language lessons for approximately 1,000 displaced Ukrainians adapting to new countries.^[21] Preply reported that it offered relocation for employees in Ukraine due to the 2022 invasion from Russia.^[22]

Preply raised its largest single amount to date of $50 million via a funding round in July 2022.^[23][19][24] In July 2023, the company raised an additional $70 million via an extended Series C funding round, which was led by Horizon Capital.^[19] Funds were to be used for an artificial intelligence-based assistant focused on grammar explanations and conversation starters.^[25] Preply opened an office in New York City in October 2023.^[26] An office was opened in London in July 2024.^[27] Preply's total funding raised was $170 million, as of 2023.^[28]

In 2025, the company launched the “Speak Ukraine” campaign, a multimedia initiative aimed at promoting Ukrainian language and culture.^[29]