Previous EdTechX Award Winner Showcase — Busuu
In a $60 billion global language learning market set to nearly double by 2025, Busuu CEO and co-founder sees his business becoming the world’s most trusted brand for committed language learners in the same time period.
Inspired by emerging social media platforms like Facebook, and with a vision to empower people through languages, Bernhard Niesner alongside his co-founder, Adrian Hilti initially created Busuu as a social network for language learning in 2008. The company has since grown to become one of the leading language learning platforms by combining AI-powered courses, instant feedback from a global community of native speakers, and lessons with qualified teachers. “Busuu’s vision is to empower people through languages. As part of this, our aim is to provide everything a person needs to become fluent in a foreign language without having to travel to the countries where the language is spoken or choose expensive, out-of-date, face-to-face classes on the other side of town,” Bernhard told us.
However, the strong market position that Busuu enjoys today didn’t happen without challenges. Having started as a web platform prior to the launch of mobile apps, the team soon recognised the demand for ‘mobile first’ which meant re-developing the entire platform and content from scratch to be optimised for mobile phones rather than for desktops. During this time, a new competitor entered the market offering a free product, nearly pushing Busuu under. Despite the odds, Bernhard and his team managed to re-launch their product, attract new investors and grow the business into the dominant player it is today.
“Raise as much capital as possible and start building a large company to disrupt this massive six trillion-dollar global education market.” — Bernhard Niesner
During the pandemic, Busuu saw unprecedented demand as people turned to language learning during lockdowns. At the peak of the first lockdown, the company saw revenue growth of up to 80% year-over-year, and up to 200% in new user growth. Due to the massive acceleration of digital learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has never been a better time than now to be an EdTech entrepreneur, according to Bernhard who would urge the new generation to take advantage of this positive dynamic. “Raise as much capital as possible and start building a large company to disrupt this massive six trillion-dollar global education market.” These words stem no doubt from Busuu’s decision in 2011 to stay ‘bootstrapped’ when given the chance to raise capital, a decision which, in hindsight, Bernhard believes probably curtailed their growth and market position.
Today, however, Busuu has become one of the most globally recognised brands in language education, bringing positive change to people’s lives on a global scale through its leading innovation and growth strategies. Bernhard believes it was the combination of these factors that won them the 2020 EdTechX Impact Award. “For our customers — whether that’s an individual or an entire organisation — Busuu is truly enabling them to learn languages. We’re helping people all around the world to overcome language barriers and thrive in whatever goal they have set for themselves — from getting closer to a new culture to improving their career prospects.”
Since receiving the award last year, the team have continued to innovate to meet the growing demand for online language learning, notably with the launch of their Live Lessons, an online language tutoring offering with trained teachers. We asked Bernhard what benefits he saw in the EdTechX Awards: “They provide an excellent accolade within our industry — it’s a great proof point to share with stakeholders to highlight Busuu’s leading innovation. Internally, it sends a positive message to our team who work tirelessly to make Busuu so great — recognition of their hard work!”
