Duolingo raises $45 million, now valued at nearly half a billion dollars

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

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 of 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. Read more...