Memrise, an education technology start-up behind a language learning app for adults, has secured $15.5 million (£11.6m) in Series B funding.
Founded in 2010 by Ed Cooke, Ben Whately and Greg Detre, Memrise supports more than 22 languages including French, Arabic and Spanish and claims to have helped more than 35 million people worldwide.
“Memrise is an accessible platform for all people to learn languages—at the heart of our vision is creating learning experiences that meaningfully connect people to the world,” Cooke said.
He added: “We’re a technology company actively working to improve human consciousness, and to foster authentic engagement across communities.
“We care about self-improvement and empowerment, and we’re determined to use technology to make learning—which we believe depends most fundamentally on meaningful connection with the world — richer and more engaging for tens of millions of people.”
The fresh funding was led by Octopus Ventures and Korelya Capital, with additional investments coming from Avalon Ventures and Balderton Capital.
The firm will use the cash injection to accelerate its growth, by developing its software and adding multimedia enhancements to its app.
Eyal Rabinovich from Octopus Ventures said: “We’re in love with Memrise’s vision for language learning, and have been deeply impressed with the high engagement levels and tangible learning among their millions of users.
“We look forward to supporting this exceptionally diverse and talented team in their mission to enrich human consciousness through learning.”
Memrise is based in East London and currently employs a team of 70.