Preply, the AI-powered online learning platform, has officially reached unicorn status with a $1.2 billion valuation following a $150 million Series D round led by Westcap. Joining from the New York Stock Exchange, CEO and co-founder Kirill Bigai shares how Preply is redefining language learning by connecting learners with the world’s best tutors through a personalized, global marketplace. With 100,000 active tutors and students in over 180 countries, Preply has delivered more than 100 million live one-on-one classes. Kirill explains how AI drives the platform—from matching learners with the perfect tutor to analyzing classes and generating exercises—while automating administrative tasks for tutors. He also discusses plans for scaling in Europe and the U.S., focusing on serious learners who see language skills as a critical investment for careers and global connections. With a mission to build a legendary learning brand, Preply continues to innovate at the intersection of AI, education, and human connection.
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Prey is an AI powered online learning platform and it just reached unicorn status, valued at $1.2 billion.
That's after a Series Dunding round of $150 million led by the VC firm Westcap.
Joining me now to share more is Preply CEO and co-founder Kirill Bigai.
So before we dive into the funding news, what is Preply?
So Preppy is the most efficient and most human way to learn a language.
Uh, we have built, um, a phenomenal platform.
Since inception, we have already delivered 100 million live personalized one on one classes with our tutors.
So we basically established a marketplace where we connect learners and tutors.
We aim to connect learners with the world's best tutors.
Today, we have 100,000 active tutors on Prey.
And we are very global.
We are present in more than 180 countries.
Our long term goal is to really build that legendary brand that will define how humans learn in the future.
Why did you start Preply?
So it really starts from my own experience.
When I was in university, I really understood that at some point I would like to be a global entrepreneur and build a global business, and for that I had to significantly improve my English skills.
So I've tried all different methods and At some point, um, I tried a tutor who was doing online classes, and together with my co-founder Dmitro, we saw a phenomenal opportunity to create a marketplace where you can find those tutors from many different countries.
And in this way, we really wanted to increase access to personalized learning.
Today, um, on Preply, 90% of classes are happening between learners and tutors who are physically in different countries.
So you can see it's a very global marketplace, and today we are available in more than 180 countries.
And how do you plan to allocate the capital from this funding round?
Yes, we will continue to do what we do better than others invest in our product and AI capabilities.
We really want to improve our platform end to end, make it more personalized, more human, and more efficient.
We are still scratching the surface of the market.
The market is massive.
It's more than 2 billion people in the world who want to improve language skills.
A lot of them are our audience, are serious learners, and we have to start scaling our brand.
Um, so we'll start doing this in Europe and the United States, and then hopefully we'll scale to other regions as well.
Who is the properly user?
So as I mentioned, um, we like to call them serious learner.
So those are the customers um who see language skill um to be a very important investment for them, not just a hobby.
Uh, they usually want to improve language for, um, to be able to connect with their, uh, colleagues, partners, relatives abroad.
Um, they want to progress in their careers.
For many of them, language is paramount to get to the next stage, and they also want to belong, belong in their At their workplaces, in their communities when they relocate or when they are traveling, so yeah, all in all, those are the customers that we focus on and we really want to build the best experience for them.
And how is properly leveraging AI?
Yeah, we love investing in AI.
This is one thing that we are very passionate about and we already.
A very, very strong setup.
So we apply AI across all the journey.
We start with the most important part, matching you with the right tutor.
We use AI to find that one tutor for you that will change your trajectory, and through data we've seen that selecting the right tutor is the biggest driver of success.
And then when class is starting, um, we actually have them in our video classroom.
And with AI we analyze classes, track progress, and generate exercises to practice between, um, between the lessons.
On the tutor side, we also have a lot of administrative tasks that we are automating for them, so they can focus on what they do the best, teaching the world.
And what is next for properly?
Um, well, you know, we have our vision to help hundreds of millions of learners to, um, to connect, belong, and progress in their lives, and we see that the market for this is, is, is, uh, is quite large.
There are more than 2 billion people in the world who want to improve language skills, so we will keep our heads down.
We will keep investing.
Product and really building this personalized human experience and as I mentioned, we will start scaling our brand.
We do really want to build that one legendary learning brand that will define how humans learn in the future.
Kirill Bigai, CEO and co-founder of Preply, thank you so much for joining us at the New York Stock Exchange.
Thank you for having me.