- Language-learning app Duolingo has hired bankers to go public as soon as this summer, sources tell Insider.
- Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co. are said to be leading the offering, according to the sources.
- The Pittsburgh-based company was last valued at $2.4 billion after a fundraising round was completed in November.
- See more stories on Insider's business page .
The language-learning app Duolingo has hired bankers for an initial public offering that could come as soon as this summer, sources tell Insider.
Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co. are said to be leading the offering, according to two sources close to the company, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The company's plans, including the timing of the IPO, could still change, the sources said.
Duolingo was last valued at $2.4 billion after a fundraising round was completed in November.
The Pittsburgh-based company, founded in 2011, aims to make education accessible to all by helping people learn new languages. Duolingo currently offers 100 courses in 39 languages for free and counts around 40 million monthly active users. The company has a freemium business model with 96% of learners using a free version.
Representatives for Duolingo, Goldman Sachs, and Allen & Co. didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Luis von Ahn, Duolingo's CEO, grew up in Guatemala and was educated in the US. He founded Duolingo after selling two companies to Google earlier in his career. He is also known for inventing the CAPTCHA , or the series of letters that people have to enter to verify they are a human instead of a computer when logging onto a website.
Duolingo has raised a total of $183 million to fund its growth, most recently $35 million in 2020 from Durable Capital Partners and General Atlantic.
Via PakApNews