Mondly
Mondly is an EdTech company that develops a freemium language learning platform which includes a website and apps with free and paid courses for 33 languages. The company also offers lessons in virtual and augmented reality. In April 2022, Mondly was acquired by the London-headquartered publishing company, Pearson. History. Mondly is based in Brașov, Romania and was founded at the end of 2013 by Alexandru Iliescu and Tudor Iliescu, graduates of Transilvania University of Brașov. The company launched the first app in May 2014 on iTunes and on Google Play in June 2015. A year later, in August  2016, launched the first chatbot with speech recognition on both iTunes and Google Play. In February 2017, Mondly launched MondlyVR, the first virtual reality language app with speech recognition. By September, the app was available on both Oculus Store and Google Play. In May 2017, the company launched MondlyKids, an iOS and Android language app for children aged 5 to 12 and then, in March 2018, launched MondlyAR, the first augmented reality language app with speech recognition. In early 2020, Mondly made its main app available on Huawei AppGallery. In October 2020, Mondly announced its partnership with Oxford University Press  on a new suite of custom English grammar and vocabulary tests. Following a rise in interest in VR education, the company launched Mondly VR on the Oculus Quest store in August 2021. In the third quarter of 2021, Mondly became the second most downloaded language learning app worldwide. Language courses. As of 2017, Mondly made available courses for 33 languages using localized content in 33 native languages. The available levels of language proficiency are beginner, intermediate and advanced. In 2020, the app introduced courses for 8 new languages: Bengali, Catalan, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Tagalog and Urdu. With this update , the app’s portfolio has grown from 33 to 41 languages. Products. Mondly Languages is a language learning app that integrates chatbot and speech recognition technologies to help users learn any of the 33 languages it offers. Mondly Kids is a language learning app for toddlers and kids. MondlyVR is a language learning app in virtual reality available on Steam and the Oculus Store compatible with Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest headsets. MondlyAR features an avatar “teacher” who brings virtual objects – planets, animals, musical instruments, etc. – into the room as teaching tools, engages the user in conversations and gives instant  feedback on pronunciation using the chatbot technology. Recognition and awards. In January 2016, Mondly Languages was named “Best New App” by Apple and a year later it received the FbStart “App of the Year” award for Europe, Middle East & Africa offered by Facebook. In December 2017, Mondly Languages and MondlyKids have both been chosen as “Editors’ Choice” in Google Play. In 2018, Mondly was named a “Cool Vendor” in Consumer Mobile Applications and Bots by Gartner and included in Deloitte’s Fast 50 Rising Stars. Alexandru Iliescu, the CEO and co-founder of Mondly, was named Founder of the Year  at the Central European Startup Awards. In February 2019, the founders of Mondly were awarded the “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year: Technology & Innovation” prize by Ernst & Young. In July, Mondly was named „Best Online Language Learning Portal” in Germany by the Deutsches Institut für Service-Qualität. In November 2021, Mondly won the Chairman’s Award at the WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards.