{"id":708656,"date":"2026-01-21T15:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/language-learning-marketplace-preplys-unicorn-status-embodies-ukrainian-resilience\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:30:18","slug":"language-learning-marketplace-preplys-unicorn-status-embodies-ukrainian-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/language-learning-marketplace-preplys-unicorn-status-embodies-ukrainian-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Language learning marketplace Preply’s unicorn status embodies Ukrainian resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Language learning marketplace Preply<\/a> is now valued at $1.2 billion after raising a $150 million Series<\/a> D round that marks a new chapter for the 14-year-old company, whose previous backers include Horizon Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures and Techstars Berlin.<\/p>\n

While Preply has been connecting language learners with tutors since 2013, it has now been EBITDA profitable for twelve months. Not coincidentally, it has also ramped up AI integration to support its 100,000 tutors and continue scaling.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a fine line \u2014 Duolingo faced backlash after declaring it would become an \u201cAI-first company,\u201d and tutors have been a key differentiator for Preply. The company is adamant it won\u2019t replace them \u2014 but AI can also bring consistency to a model that relies on self-employed instructors. The future of learning \u201cis going to be human-guided and amplified by AI,\u201d Preply CEO Kirill Bigai told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

According to Bigai, Preply already app<\/a>lies AI to features such as lesson summaries and homework, but also to match learners to tutors that best fit their needs. To further develop these capabilities, he said Preply is now hiring AI talent across its four offices \u2014 Barcelona, London and New York but also Kyiv, which the company hasn\u2019t left despite the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n

Although Preply is headquartered in the U.S., where it got its first start<\/a>, Bigai and his cofounders are Ukrainian and the company has been very actively supporting their home country<\/a>. They have been doing that in several ways since the war started, including as an employer. \u201cWe are very committed [to the] Ukrainian office,\u201d said Bigai.<\/p>\n

Out of Preply\u2019s 750 employees, approximately 150 people work from Kyiv, despite Russian strikes regularly forcing them into shelters and causing power outages<\/a> that have made the current freezing winter particularly challenging. \u201cOur office has different generators so we have electricity, Internet, and the office is warm and it\u2019s open 24\/7 so any Ukrainian team member can come to the office at any time,\u201d Bigai said.<\/p>\n

These employees may be grateful to Preply \u2014 but Bigai is grateful to them and has deep admiration for his people. \u201cUkrainians are going through very challenging times, and it builds a significant resilience and creativity,\u201d he said. Having to adapt to the reality and uncertainty of war also transformed Preply. \u201cI think the fact that the company went through this experience \u2014 and how so many people helped other people \u2014 made us stronger, more resilient, more creative,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With its new funding, the edtech company has now joined the growing cohort of unicorns with Ukrainian roots, including Fintech-IT Group<\/a> and Grammarly<\/a>. But it may also follow in the footsteps of Airbnb, whose former CFO Laurence Tosi led the Series D through his growth equity firm, WestCap. While Bigai said Preply has no timeline or concrete IPO plans yet, he noted WestCap\u2019s \u201cphenomenal experience in [taking] companies public, which is one of the things that we will continue to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Language learning marketplace Preply is now valued at $1.2 billion after raising a $150 million Series D round that marks a new chapter for the 14-year-old company, whose previous backers include Horizon Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures and Techstars Berlin. While Preply has been connecting language learners with tutors since 2013, it has now been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":708657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Preply-CEO-Kirill-Bigai.jpg?resize=1200,890","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[77337,90469,28340,74839,160368,160369,70917,70868,160370],"class_list":["post-708656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-ai","tag-edtech","tag-europe","tag-fundraising","tag-language-learning","tag-preply","tag-startups","tag-ukraine","tag-westcap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}