Business news from Ukraine

UKRAINIAN PREPLY ONLINE TUTORING MARKETPLACE RAISES $10 MLN

The Preply international marketplace for finding tutors has raised a new $10 million round of funding. London-based Hoxton Ventures acted as a lead investor in the round.
According to a press release of the company, Point Nine Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital, and Diligent Capital also participated in the round along with angel investors: Arthur Kosten from Booking.com; Gary Swart, ex-CEO of Upwork; David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies; and Danielle Hoffer, founder of Couchsurfing.
The funding will help the company strengthen its position in North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK. Besides, Preply will open a branch in the United States.
In addition, Preply also expands the platform. The startup plans to launch new tools for its tutors and to develop a mobile application for Android and iOS.
“The new funding allows us to bring a more in-depth, immersive and convenient experience to both tutors and learners all over the world. Today, we are laser focused on language learning, but ultimately, I envision a future where anyone can learn anything using Preply,” CEO of Preply Kirill Bigai said in a statement.
The startup was founded in 2012 by Bigai, Serge Lukianov (Head of Product Design) and Dmytro Voloshyn (CTO) with offices in Kyiv and Berlin. The company currently employs 125 staff.

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