Busuu, headquartered in London, has just entered into an agreement to be acquired by Chegg, a US-based edtech company, for €385 million in a move that will supercharge the company’s mission to empower people through languages.
Founded in 2008, Busuu was created with a pioneering vision of integrating language learning into a social network – curating an online community of linguists. The community has grown to more than 120 million learners, representing 160 different countries.
Co-founded by Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti, Busuu has transformed the language learning industry over the years, giving learners access to interactive courses and the opportunity to practice directly with native speakers. Busuu CEO Bernhard Niesner was a speaker at our first ever EU-Startups Conference back in 2014, so we are especially excited by this news.
The edtech company, which was founded 2008 in Madrid, has expanded globally and moved HQ to London in 2012. The team of over 150 are now based in offices between London and Madrid.
Chegg, a publicly traded company from California, strive to improve educational outcomes by putting the student first. Supporting students over the duration of their educational journey, from high school to college to professional life, the company empowers them to access course materials online, anytime and anywhere.
The acquisition will enable Busuu to reach more learners globally and develop an international standard in language learning. Chegg has over 6 million active customers that will soon be able to access Busuu’s services.
Bernhard Niesner, CEO & Co-founder of Busuu, said: “Our vision is to empower everyone in the world through languages and our relationship with Chegg will enable us to achieve this goal even faster.”
This is big news in the European edtech world and represents a new era of modern approaches to language learning for a global community. Digital education is on the rise, and this acquisition is another positive success-story for the industry.
