Duolingo, the company known for its popular language-learning app, has raised another $45 million in funding.
The latest round, lead by Google Capital, brings Duolingo's total funding up to $83 million, following a $20 million Series C last year.
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The language startup says this latest investment, which comes at a $470 million valuation, will "enable the Duolingo team to make the platform even more adaptive, personalized and effective, and to expand the platform’s presence in schools across the globe."
Google's involvement in the investment is particularly interesting, given Duolingo's recent focus on schools. The startup rolled out Duolingo for Schools, a specialized version of its app meant to be used in classrooms, earlier this year. It provides teachers with tools to track their students' progress, and also enables them to offer extra credit, and assign homework through the app.
Like the consumer version of Duolingo on iOS and Android, Duolingo for Schools is free for both students and teachers.
Google, already known for its efforts to make technology and science programs available to kids (such as its annual science fair and summer camp) has ramped up its involvement in classrooms. Schools are among the largest consumers of Chromebooks, and the company recently rolled out a new Expeditions program that will allow teachers to take their students on virtual reality "field trips" via its Cardboard VR platform.
"Duolingo’s mobile first, adaptive, and gamified platform is changing the way people are learning languages across the globe,” Google Capital partner, Laela Sturdy, said in a statement . “We were blown away by Duolingo's growth and engagement numbers, and we're thrilled to partner with them as they shape the future of education."