Babbel

Last updated
Babbel GmbH
Babbel logo.svg
Type of site
 Private
Available in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
Headquarters Berlin,
Germany
Key peopleMarkus Witte (CEO), Thomas Holl (Co-Founder), Julie Hansen (CEO Babbel, Inc.)
Industry E-learning, online education
Revenue €247 million (2022) [1]
Employees1000 globally [2] [3]
URL www.babbel.com
Registrationyes
LaunchedAugust 2007;17 years ago (2007-08)
Current statusOnline

Babbel GmbH, operating as Babbel, [4] is a German company operating a subscription-based language learning software and e-learning platform.

Contents

With 1000 employees, Babbel is headquartered in Berlin (Babbel GmbH) and has an office in New York City, operating as Babbel Inc. [5] Babbel's app is available for web, iOS and Android offering lessons in 14 languages. The company develops its learning content in-house. [6]

History

The company was founded in August 2007 by Thomas Holl, Toine Diepstraten, Lorenz Heine and Markus Witte. [7] [8] In January 2008, the language learning platform went online with community features as a free beta version. [9]

In March 2013, Babbel acquired San Francisco startup PlaySay Inc. to expand into the United States. [10] [11] As part of the acquisition, PlaySay's founder and CEO joined Babbel as a strategic advisor. [12] Later that year, a third funding round led by Scottish Equity Partners raised another $22 million. [13] [14] Other participants in this round include previous investors Reed Elsevier Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, [15] and VC Fonds Technology Berlin. [16] [17]

In 2019, co-founder Markus Witte stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Arne Schepker. [18] In March 2020, a works council was elected in the Berlin office. [19]

In March 2022, Babbel provided free access codes to Ukrainian refugees, allowing those with prior knowledge of languages offered by Babbel to learn relevant languages such as German, Polish, and English. [20] In February 2023, Babbel was awarded the "CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Silver Anthem Award for Humanitarian Action & Services" for its efforts to help displaced people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [21] At the time, over 500,000 Ukrainians accessed Babbel courses under the program. [22]

In 2023, Babbel acquired Toucan (a language-learning browser extension). At the time, it had around 1000 full-time employees and freelancers. [5] As of October 2024, Markus Witte has returned as CEO. [23]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Annual revenue generated by Babbel from 2013 to 2022", statista.com
  2. ↑ Nicola, Stefan (January 12, 2017). "Germany's Babbel Adds Ex-Business Insider Executive in U.S. Push". Bloomberg.
  3. ↑ Iszler, Madison (August 28, 2015). "European Language-Learning Startup Challenges Rosetta Stone, Duolingo". Forbes .
  4. ↑ "Lesson Nine GmbH". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  5. 1 2 "Babbel expands language learning ecosystem with Toucan acquisition". Tech.eu. 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  6. ↑ Strathmann, Marvin (March 9, 2016). "Alleine zur Fremdsprache". Die Zeit (in German).
  7. ↑ Swan, David (July 4, 2017). "Babbel may set up office in Australia". The Australian Business Review. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Babbel secures funding for language learning". techcrunch.com. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  9. ↑ Slagel, Jake (March 7, 2016). "Interview with Babbel founder and CEO Markus Witte". The Young Businessmen. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  10. ↑ DiStefano, Joseph N. (March 21, 2013). "Babbel buys PlaySay". Philadelphia Media Network.
  11. ↑ Leach, Anna (March 22, 2013). "Berlin E-Learning Startup Babbel Buys Out San Francisco Rival". The Wall Street Journal .
  12. ↑ Murph, Darren (March 21, 2013). "Babbel acquires PlaySay in bid to bolster US language learning presence". Engadget.
  13. ↑ England, Lucy (July 9, 2015). "German startup Babbel has raised $22 million to help people learn new languages". Business Insider.
  14. ↑ Loeb, Steven (July 8, 2015). "Language learning startup Babbel raises $22M". Vator.
  15. ↑ "Babbel Raises $22 million". Nokia Growth Partners. July 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  16. ↑ Sawers, Paul (July 8, 2015). "Babbel raises $22M to help grow its language-learning platform in the Americas". VentureBeat.
  17. ↑ Lardinois, Frederic (July 8, 2015). "Babbel Raises $22M Series C Round For Its Language Learning Service". TechCrunch.
  18. ↑ "Founder of language learning platform Babbel steps down as co-CEO to focus on board role". TechCrunch. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  19. ↑ ""Beyond quitting" - Employees at Babbel elect a works council". IG Metall Berlin. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  20. ↑ "Quick Help: Babbel supports Ukrainian refugees with language courses". www.babbel.com. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  21. ↑ "In Review: The Year's Most Pressing Social Issues at the 2023 Anthem Awards". Anthem Awards. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  22. ↑ "By helping displaced Ukrainians learn a new language, Berlin's Babbel has taken its chance to make a difference". Tech.eu. 2023-02-25. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  23. ↑ Lardinois, Frederic (2024-10-11). "Exclusive: Babbel co-founder Markus Witte will return as CEO, replacing Arne Schepker". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
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