Lingokids, the top interactive app for kids ages two to eight and used by more than 185 million families worldwide, has raised $120 million in new financing.
This funding round, a combination of equity and go-to-market investment, was spearheaded by BullhoundCapital and General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, and supported by a number of new and existing investors, including Nextalia Ventures.
The investment will accelerate Lingokids’ expansion of guilt-free, engaging, and educational content for kids, while also unlocking the power of AI to dramatically increase the speed and variety of content production, said Cristóbal Viedma, CEO and founder of Lingokids, in an interview with GamesBeat.
As part of the company’s growth plan, it will integrate even more beloved third-party brands and characters into its trusted Playlearning universe, elevating it to become the ultimate digital destination for kids. The company will use the funds to grow the user base, improve AI personalization and accelerate content creation.
By continuing to scale and adapt its content pipeline, Lingokids will be able to offer an ever-growing range of experiences that meet each child’s unique interests while teaching key concepts they need to learn. The result: highly personalized, high-quality learning journeys designed to engage and inspire children worldwide.
Viedma reminded me that we talked in 2021 and the company’s mission hasn’t changed.
“We are the leaders in the right space,” Viedma said. “It’s a huge market, with a billion kids worldwide below eight years old, and we are the No. 1 interactive product out there, with a huge amount of users. We have 10 million monthly users, one million kids every single day.”
The U.S. accounts for about 50% of Lingokids’ base, with more players in Mexico and Brazil.
Back in 2021, Lingokids had 600 pieces of original content. Now it hsa more than 3,000 pieces of original content, and it continues expanding that at the same time it is pursuing IP through partnerships, like it did with NASA and Dinosaurs with the BBC.
“This marks a new era for Lingokids, as we accelerate our mission to pioneer a new way of learning by evolving from a single-IP app into a multi-IP platform,” said Viedma. “With this funding, we will unlock the ability to deliver more personalized, diverse, and high-quality content for kids everywhere, all in a safe environment that parents can trust.”
He added, “In an era characterized by diminishing attention spans and a plethora of passive consumption options, providing access to high-quality content that skillfully blends entertainment with education is essential. Gen AI will enable us to scale this vision and bring it to more families around the world, faster, while every curriculum remains designed and guided by parents and educators.”
Ranked the No. 1 interactive app for kids in downloads across iOS and Android, and trusted by more than 185 million families worldwide, Lingokids continues to innovate and expand its catalog of edutainment content. It’s also available on interactive TV platforms like Samsung and it is moving onto PC, Mac and Chromebooks.
The brand leans heavily into entertainment to keep kids engaged, while collaborating with educational leaders like NASA to create space lessons, Stanford Scientists for nutritional insights, and the World Literacy Foundation to teach children reading and spelling fundamentals. Additionally, the app features exclusive partnership content with iconic brands, including Pocoyo and Blippi.
“Lingokids stands out among the sea of content resources for children today, providing the only guilt-free screen time in a safe yet entertaining environment,” added Hugh Campbell, cofounder and partner at BullhoundCapital, in a statement. “As supporters of Lingokids’ mission, our continued investment will help the company scale its global platform with engaging and interactive content that kids love and parents trust.”
Origins
Launched in 2015, Lingokids was designed to address a significant gap in the children’s learning app market. It created an entertaining app that engages children through interactive play and self-exploration. Unlike other platforms that prioritize passive content consumption, Lingokids offers interactive and personalized experiences.
The company has about 150 employees across San Francisco, Madrid and other parts of the world. AI is making everyone at the company more productive, he said. The company may add another 10 people by the end of 2025, but it is focused on growing its user base and improving awareness of the brand with parents.
Children progress at their own pace through content tailored to their age and developmental level in a safe environment. Moreover, Lingokids’ scientifically-validated Playlearning approach makes learning fun and enriching, covering subjects such as math, literacy, science, and social-emotional learning (SEL) to ignite curiosity and imagination in each session.
“We continue to see incredible momentum in the edtech sector, particularly when it comes to resources for helping young children on their learning journey,” said Pranav Singhvi, managing director at General Catalyst, in a statement. “ With this investment we are proud to support Cris and the team at Lingokids in expanding their ability to deliver highly engaging, safe, ad-free content to kids and families around the globe.”
To further shape this continued growth, Campbell has joined the Lingokids board of directors.
The reason for the explosion in Lingokids content is that kids at young ages have widely varying tastes in content year by year, with content spreading across areas like literacy, math, soft skills like critical thinking, communication, empathy and even neurodiversity.
To create that content, the team started a couple of years ago on AI, introducing more generative AI and artificial intelligence with its teams to better empower educators to create a curriculum, or artists to create the art, animators and so on. And we want to invest more of that money into making sure that we can accelerate the creation of that content, he said.
Videma said that playing multiplayer games on a device as part of family time has given rise to more demand for his company’s products. The firm introduces new modes of usage, or different ways to use the products. Now there are modes like video streaming and guided lessons. Ther are about 1,000 interactive games now.
Standing out from competitors
The company stands out from a lot of others in gaming, where it’s been hard to find growth and even harder to hang on to employees. One reason is the age group is different and parents are buying out of the interest in educating their kids.
“They see it as money well spent,” he said.
During the pandemic, there was a huge influx of capital going into education, and then that funding dried up and there haven’t been as many deals lately. Lingokids has spent a lot of time personalizing content for different age groups.
The company is also spreading to different platforms like the PC, Mac, Chromebooks and interactive TVs.
Lingokids starts to overlap with other platforms like Minecraft at the upper end of the age range, around six years to eight years. Parents are getting more concerned about safety for kids and Viedma said this is a plus for Lingokids.
Parents are also concerned about too much screen time, and Lingokids has done a campaign addressing it. Viedma noted parents often feel guilty about allowing kids to have a lot of screen time, yet these feelings of guilt are misplaced, as no one can be superparents.
And they can feel better about allowing kids to play educational content, he said.
“This is the platform that is the healthy alternative for kids worldwide,” said Viedma..