Participated · Convertible Note · Dec 2010

Voxy is a web and mobile-based English learning platform that uses real-world content. Every online course combines adaptive learning technology, personalized live instruction, and authentic, real-world content to support learners’ needs in real time. It provides services to major educational institutions, corporations and governments across North and South America, Europe and Asia. Launched in 2010 and led by CEO Paul Gollash, the company is based in New York City and also has an office in São Paulo, Brazil. Voxy raised $12M in a funding round led by SJF Ventures with participation from Inherent Group, Rethink Education, Contour Venture Partners, Weld North and GSV Acceleration. The company intends to use the funds to work with more learners in historically underserved regions. Voxy provides web and mobile English-language learning apps that combine lessons and games with continuous feedback for learners at all levels. The company reports 2.5 million users and says its app has been rated the No. 1 education iTunes app in 23 countries. Its products deliver real-time feedback to help users improve and include features suitable from beginners to advanced learners. Voxy plans to use the recent financing to expand marketing, particularly in emerging markets, and to compete with incumbents such as Rosetta Stone and numerous other language-learning apps. The deal positions Voxy to leverage a strategic investor relationship to scale distribution. CEO Paul Gollash said the startup would benefit from Pearson’s global scale and distribution network. Voxy offers a mobile-first platform that teaches English by culling content from everyday life materials such as media and conversations. It launched an iPhone app that teaches English to Portuguese speakers, expanding beyond its prior English-to-Spanish offerings. The company provides both free and premium services, with the smartphone product starting at $2.99 per month for added features. Voxy emphasizes reaching users in developing markets who may leapfrog browsers in favor of mobile devices. Founder Paul Gollash says the company will use new funding to hire more engineers, scale the product, and improve existing technology. One day after launching in Brazil, Voxy reached the top ten in the education app category there. Voxy is a New York-based language-learning startup that teaches English as a second language to native Spanish speakers using multimedia platforms. Its product delivers lessons via SMS, the web, and mobile apps, leveraging real-world content such as magazine stories to teach language through authentic reading material. The service reports over 16,000 active users. Voxy announced an additional $600K in funding on top of a $600K convertible-debt round in February, bringing total funding to $1.2M. The company said it will use the new funding to scale the product and hire. Product roadmap includes a formal iPhone app planned for January and a Spanish-to-English version slated for next year. Voxy is an online service that teaches languages—initially English—by pulling content from text messages, the Internet and traditional media and delivering lessons across text messages, mobile apps, and the web. The platform translates content on the fly and scales material to a user’s comprehension, highlighting words and topics just outside a learner’s understanding to introduce new vocabulary and grammar. Voxy has launched an iPhone app that pulls content from traditional media streams alongside its main website. The product gamifies learning with streaks, tracked vocabulary “words,” points for challenges and games, and competitive progress tracking against other users. The company plans to scale the service to other languages in the near future. Founded in February and based in New York, Voxy has raised about $600,000 to date.