Preply, a language learning platform founded in Ukraine, has raised $150 million in a Series D funding round, lifting its valuation to $1.2 billion and making it Ukraine’s newest tech unicorn.
The deal makes Preply one of the few Ukrainian startups valued at over $1 billion – a “unicorn” in tech terms. Other Ukrainian tech unicorns include AirSlate, Creatio, GitLab, People.ai, Unstoppable Domains and Grammarly.
The round was led by growth equity firm WestCap. The valuation represents a twofold increase compared to the company’s previous fundraising several years ago.
Ukraine’s media outlet Scroll reported the news on Wednesday. The company confirmed the funding by calling it a “major milestone” in its LinkedIn update.
Preply connects over 100,000 tutors with learners across 180 countries, offering one-on-one lessons in over 90 languages.
The company last raised capital in July 2023, securing $70 million as part of a broader Series C round totaling $120 million. At the time, people familiar with the transaction estimated Preply’s valuation at $500 million to $600 million, though the company did not publicly confirm the figure.
Preply plans to use the fresh capital to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) and data capabilities, expand its product and engineering teams, and expand globally.
The company plans to improve its platform by combining human teaching with AI tools, helping learners track progress and tutors run lessons.
What is Preply
Preply, headquartered in Barcelona with offices in other locations, was founded more than 10 years ago in Kyiv by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Kyrylo Bihai and Dmytro Voloshyn.
Following its Series C round, Preply more than tripled the number of tutors available for booking and expanded its offering by adding over 40 new languages to the platform, Scroll.media wrote.
Over the past year, the company has improved its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) – a measure of operating profitability – and has reached positive EBITDA, sources familiar with its finances told Scroll.media.
Preply is also backed by Horizon Capital, with the investment marking the first deal from the firm’s fourth fund.