Preply closes €127 million Series D to scale AI-assisted tutoring
Preply, the US- and Spain-based language learning marketplace, said it has raised €127 million in a Series D funding round as it accelerates investment in AI, data infrastructure, and international growth. The round was led by WestCap, with participation from Índico Capital Partners, and values the company at approximately €1 billion (about $1.2 billion). Total funding to date now stands at roughly €254 million, according to the company.
The financing comes as education technology companies increasingly position AI-enabled personalization as a differentiator, particularly in language learning and tutoring, where platforms blend software tools with live instruction. Preply said the new capital will be used to expand product and engineering teams, deepen its AI and data capabilities, and support continued global expansion.
“Human tutoring, amplified by AI”
Kirill Bigai, co-founder and CEO of Preply, framed the round as a bet on a hybrid model that pairs one-on-one instruction with AI tools designed to improve lesson efficiency and outcomes.
“We feel extremely fortunate and deeply responsible for shaping how people will learn in the future,” Bigai said in a statement. “Today, we connect people with the world’s best tutors, amplified by AI… This investment will help us to continue to innovate at the intersection of human tutoring and AI.”
Allen Mask, a partner at WestCap and former senior executive at Airbnb, is joining the Preply board. He said the company is “setting a new standard for personalized education at scale,” adding that data indicates learners benefit when real instruction is supported by technology.
Scale that stands out in European EdTech funding
While a range of European tutoring and learning platforms have raised capital over 2025–2026, Preply’s Series D is notable for its size. Recent funding activity cited across the sector includes Germany-based Knowunity (€27 million) as well as smaller rounds such as the UK’s MyEdSpace (€12.8 million), Switzerland’s Evulpo (€9.3 million), France’s Filiz (€6 million), Denmark’s Alice (€4.2 million), and Italy’s Tutornow (€1 million). Additional raises mentioned include Norway’s WeWillWrite (€2 million), Germany’s DigitalErleben (paddy) (€1 million), and Italy-based BRUM (€5 million).
Across those deals, roughly €40–45 million was deployed into EdTech and tutoring companies during 2025–2026, according to figures referenced in the source material—making Preply’s €127 million round larger than many of the recent European rounds combined.
Platform footprint: 100,000+ tutors across 180 countries
Founded in 2012 and based in Barcelona, Preply operates a marketplace connecting learners with more than 100,000 tutors across 180 countries. The platform supports one-on-one lessons in more than 90 languages and increasingly promotes an AI-supported “co-pilot” suite intended to help tutors and learners structure lessons, track progress, and tailor practice.
The company’s growth narrative is tied to a large and expanding market. Citing global education data platform HolonIQ, Preply noted that an estimated 1.8 billion people—roughly one in four globally—are actively trying to achieve proficiency in a second language. The company also cited projections that the direct-to-consumer language learning market could reach €193 billion by 2035, following strong growth over the past five years.
Operational progress and profitability claims
Preply said that since its Series C round it has more than tripled the number of bookable tutors on the platform and added over 40 new languages. Over the past 12 months, the company said it improved EBITDA and became EBITDA positive, a milestone that investors often view as evidence of improving unit economics and operating discipline in marketplace businesses.
The company also pointed to findings from its 2025 Efficiency Study, conducted with nonprofit research organization LeanLab Education. According to the reported results, 96% of learners said real conversations with a human tutor are essential to progress, while 97% said those interactions helped boost confidence. The study also claimed learners progressed up to 3x faster on Preply compared with average benchmarks, with one in three learners advancing a full CEFR level in 12 weeks.
Barcelona hub and investor support
Stephan de Moraes, managing general partner at Índico Capital Partners, said the firm views Preply’s combination of AI and human instruction as a differentiator, and highlighted the company’s Barcelona base as part of its international identity.
With the new funding, Preply is positioning itself to push further into AI-driven personalization while maintaining the marketplace’s core promise: live, one-on-one learning. The Series D valuation and size of the round signal investor confidence that hybrid tutoring models can scale globally—especially as demand for language skills rises across work, travel, and online communities.
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