Duolingo, a website which offers free language tutorials, has raised $45 million in an investment round led by Google Capital. The company, which boasts over 100 million users, has previously attracted funding from Union Square Ventures, NEA, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Ashton Kutcher. Duolingo said previous investors also participated in this round. “Duolingo’s mobilefirst, adaptive, and gamified platform is changing the way people are learning languages across the globe,” said Laela Sturdy, partner at Google Capital in a press release. “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.”
Yesware, a sales toolkit, has raised a $13.3 million Series C funding round led by Foundry Group. Previous backers Battery Ventures, Google Ventures, Golden Venture Partners and IDG Ventures all participated. The company has now raised $33 million to date.
TripleLift, a native programmatic platform, has raised $10.5 million in Series B funding led by Edison Partners. Previous backers include True Ventures, iNovia Capital, Laconia Capital, and NextView Ventures. “Our vision at TripleLift is to transform advertising and build a scalable platform that respects the user, the publisher, and the advertiser. This is a paradigm shift away from flashing and blinking ads that undermine the user experience,” said Eric Berry, CEO and Co-Founder of TripleLift. “We are seeing brands and agencies shift budget from banner ads into higher performing native ads – and in-feed native ads transacted programmatically is emerging as the first step in a meaningful evolution of the display advertising market.”
Call analytics company Convirza has secured a $20 million Series B funding round. The round was led by an unmade East Coast investment group. “This is a time of extraordinary growth for our company,” Jason Wells, CEO of Convirza said. “We have a great relationship with our investment group and we’re thrilled they share our vision in our new brand and product. This round of funding is evidence of our track record of growth and success.”