Since its 2019 debut in South Korea, Speak, an AI-driven language learning app, has amassed over 10 million users across more than 40 countries. Co-founder and CEO Connor Zwick attributes the app’s exponential growth to its unique approach of emphasizing verbal practice over memorization. Speak has doubled its user base each year for the past five years, signaling robust demand for its innovative language learning method. To capitalize on this momentum, the company has recently secured $20 million in a Series B extension led by Buckley Ventures, with contributions from the OpenAI Startup Fund, Khosla Ventures, and notable tech figures like Paul Graham and Jeff Weiner. This latest funding round brings Speak’s total raised to $84 million and doubles its valuation to $500 million.
Founded in 2014 by Zwick and Andrew Hsu, who met at the Thiel Fellowship, Speak aims to revolutionize language learning by focusing on spoken language through AI-driven speech recognition technology. Initially offering English lessons, the app has expanded to include Spanish, with plans to introduce French in the near future. Speak’s subscription model charges users $20 per month or $99 per year for comprehensive access, including review materials and specialized courses. The company employs a 75-person team spread across offices in San Francisco, Seoul, Tokyo, and Ljubljana, and is focused on developing advanced models to offer real-time feedback on users’ tone and pronunciation, further enhancing the learning experience.
