Livemocha (http://www.livemocha.com)], the worlds largest language learning community, today announced that the company has raised $ 8 million in a Series B financing round led by August Capital, with participation from existing investor Maveron.
Livemocha is the leading language learning site worldwide, with over 4.8 million registered members from over 200 countries. Livemocha offers free and premium online learning courses for over 30 languages, led by the award-winning Livemocha Active English.
Livemocha offers a highly effective online learning experience that has quickly attracted a large and active global community. Social, interactive lessons include practice with native speakers for natural development of practical language skills. Specific revenues are undisclosed but growing rapidly, with customers in 97 countries paying for premium products and services.
This latest round brings the total funds raised to date by Livemocha to $ 14 million, and will be applied to accelerate platform innovation and new partnership launches planned for the next 6-12 months.
Closing a significant round of funding is acknowledgement of our progress and underscores the large, disruptive potential of Livemocha, said Shirish Nadkarni, CEO and co-founder of Livemocha. We are excited and well-positioned to realize a very ambitious vision for the future of language learning.
Howard Hartenbaum, General Partner from August Capital, has joined Amy Errett of Maveron on Livemochas Board of Directors. The company's Series A was led by Maveron in December 2007.
About Livemocha
Livemocha is a Seattle-based company that is redefining language learning by combining dynamic online courses in over 30 languages with the world's largest community of native language speakers. Since launching in September 2007, Livemocha has grown to over 4.8 million members, underscoring the strong demand for an engaging, collaborative approach to language learning. There are currently over 375 million people wanting to learn a language worldwide, and the market is currently estimated to be over $ 80 billion, fueled by rapid globalization, immigration and travel.
For more information about Livemocha, please visit http://www.livemocha.com.
About August Capital
Founded in 1995, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $ 250 billion and generate in excess of $ 75 billion in annual revenue around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. The partners at August Capital were the earliest investors in a number of ground breaking technology companies, including Microsoft, Intuit, Seagate, Sun, Skype, Compaq, Symantec, Sybase, Atheros, Grand Junction and many more. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: http://www.augustcap.com.
About Maveron
Maveron is a leading venture capital firm based in Seattle, Washington. Dan Levitan and Howard Schultz founded Maveron in January 1998 with the goal of building a firm that would be recognized as the premier financial and strategic partner to leading consumer-based businesses. Maveron's mission is to partner with entrepreneurs in the creation of extraordinary companies in order to generate outstanding financial returns. Current representative Maveron investments include fast-growing consumer companies, such as Potbelly Sandwich Works, Pinkberry, Altius Education, VideoEgg and Livemocha. Monetized investments include eBay, Capella Education Company, Shutterfly, Cranium (acquired by Hasbro), Qsent (acquired by TransUnion), Quellos (acquired by Blackrock), Good Technology (acquired by Motorola) and lucy activewear (acquired by VF Corporation). Maveron has approximately $ 750 million under management and 23 active portfolio companies nationwide. For more information, please visit: http://www.maveron.com.
Contact:
Livemocha
Clint Schmidt, 206-422-2693
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