Siena Secondary Fund participated in Preply’s $150M Series D funding round
Siena Secondary Fund has participated in Preply's recent Series D funding round, a Ukrainian-founded global language-learning platform. The round valued the company at $1.2 billion, officially making Preply a unicorn. The $150 million round was led by U.S.-based strategic operating and investing firm WestCap. New investors in the round also included, among others, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Horizon Capital, alongside Siena.
Siena’s Managing Partner Rando Rannus commented on the transaction: “We have been in contact with Preply’s CEO Kirill Bigai and have followed the company’s development for several years. Preply was founded in Kyiv in 2012, and has demonstrated remarkable resilience and focus, evolving into a clear leader with strong, sustained growth in the highly competitive language-learning market."
As a pioneer in online language learning, the Preply platform connects more than 100,000 language tutors with learners across 180 countries, offering one-on-one lessons in over 90 languages. The platform also supports the learning and teaching of the Estonian language. Preply combines human-led instruction with AI-powered tools to provide flexible, personalized learning experiences and support learners’ ongoing progress.
According to a recent study, learners using Preply progressed up to 3 times faster than average benchmarks, with 1 in 3 learners advancing by 1 proficiency level within just 12 weeks. The findings reinforce that human guidance remains a key driver of effective learning and that AI support enables tutors to focus on teaching while helping learners reach their goals more quickly.
With the new funding, the company plans to further develop its AI and data capabilities, expand its product and engineering teams to enhance the platform experience, and accelerate its global growth.
“This investment will help us to continue to innovate at the intersection of human tutoring and AI, creating opportunities everywhere for people to connect, belong, succeed, and ultimately to progress in their lives, no matter where they are in the world,” said Preply CEO Kirill Bigai.
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