Preply reaches $1.2 billion valuation in Series D funding

Preply, a 14-year-old language learning marketplace, has secured a $1.2 billion valuation after raising a $150 million Series D round—a late-stage funding round. The company, which began connecting language learners with tutors in 2013, has now been EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) profitable for 12 months. The growth equity firm WestCap led the Series D round, joining previous backers that include Horizon Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures, and Techstars Berlin.

The company is using the new capital to scale its operations and integrate artificial intelligence to support its 100,000 tutors rather than replace them. According to Preply CEO Kirill Bigai, the future of learning will be guided by humans and amplified by AI, with technology currently applied to features like lesson summaries, homework, and tutor matching. To expand these capabilities, Preply is hiring AI talent across its offices in Barcelona, London, New York, and Kyiv.

Although Preply is headquartered in the U.S., the company has maintained its presence in Kyiv, the latter of which the company hasn’t left despite the Russian invasion. Approximately 150 of Preply’s 750 employees work from Kyiv, with Russian strikes regularly forcing them into shelters and causing power outages that have made the current freezing winter particularly challenging. “Our office has different generators so we have electricity, internet, and the office is warm and it’s open 24/7 so any Ukrainian team member can come to the office at any time,” Bigai said. He noted that navigating these challenges has built significant resilience and creativity within the team.

With this funding, Preply joins a growing cohort of unicorns with Ukrainian roots, alongside Grammarly and Fintech-IT Group. While Bigai noted that Preply has no immediate timeline or concrete plans for an IPO, the involvement of WestCap—led by Laurence Tosi, the former CFO of Airbnb—points to future public market aspirations. Bigai noted that WestCap brings experience in taking companies public, which is an avenue Preply will continue to consider.

Why it matters

Preply’s unicorn status highlights the resilience of Ukrainian-founded companies, proving that significant growth is possible even while maintaining core operations in a conflict zone.