Duolingo files for US IPO as lockdown learners lean into languages
Duolingo has filed for a US initial public offering after bumper demand for its language-learning app during coronavirus lockdowns translated into higher revenue.
The Pittsburgh-based company, which was valued at $2.4bn (£1.7bn) following a funding round in November, last night unveiled plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange.
It comes after Duolingo’s revenue soared almost 130 per cent to $162m last year as more people took up language learning during the pandemic.
Revenue almost doubled in the first three months of the year, while pre-tax losses ballooned from $2.2m to $13.5m.
Duolingo, which was founded in 2011 by engineers Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, offers courses in 40 languages to roughly 40m monthly active users.
There are more people learning certain languages, such as Irish and Hawaiian, on the company’s platform than there are native speakers of those languages worldwide, it said in the filing.
Duolingo added that its flagship app has more than 500m downloads and is the top-grossing education app on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Goldman Sachs and Allen & Company are the lead underwriters for the IPO.