Duolingo, Inc.
Company History
Duolingo History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
When was Duolingo founded?
Duolingo was founded in 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, making it 15 years old.
- Founded
- 2011
- Founding place
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Founders
- Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker
- Headquarters today
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2011–2026)
- Current CEO
- Luis von Ahn
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Duolingo Founded |
| 2012 | Public Launch |
| 2013 | Language Incubator Launched |
| 2016 | Duolingo English Test Launches |
| 2019 | Series F at $1.5 Billion |
| 2020 | Series H at $2.4 Billion |
| 2021 | Nasdaq Listing |
| 2022 | Acquired Gunner |
| 2023 | Duolingo Max |
| 2025 | First $1B Revenue Year |
| 2025 | Acquired NextBeat |
| 2026 | Q2 2026 Results |
- Where was Duolingo founded?
- Duolingo was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2011. careers.duolingo.com
- Who founded Duolingo?
- Duolingo was founded by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.
- When was Duolingo created?
- Duolingo was founded in 2011.
- How old is Duolingo?
- Duolingo is 15 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Luis von Ahn, a Carnegie Mellon professor from Guatemala, had already sold reCAPTCHA to Google when he and PhD student Severin Hacker started Duolingo in 2011. They wanted free language education, since learning English could raise earnings in developing countries but software like Rosetta Stone cost hundreds of dollars. The first business model had learners translate real web content that Duolingo sold to partners such as CNN and BuzzFeed. The company later dropped translation and built its business on subscriptions, ads and testing.
Founders
Luis von Ahn
Duolingo possesses a fascinating, academic founding story, rooted in the effective intersection of crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence, and a profound desire to democratize global education. The company was founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker. Luis von Ahn is a celebrated, MacArthur 'Genius' Grant-winning computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is famous in the technology world for essentially inventing CAPTCHA (the squiggly letters you type to prove you aren't a robot) and reCAPTCHA, which utilized human crowdsourcing to digitize the archives of the New York Times. After selling reCAPTCHA to Google in 2009 for a sum, von Ahn, a native of Guatemala, wanted to tackle a societal problem: education. He recognized that global inequality was tied to language; learning English could instantly double a person's earning potential in many developing countries, but legacy language software (like Rosetta Stone) cost hundreds of dollars, making it inaccessible to the poor. Von Ahn and his effective Swiss graduate student, Severin Hacker, decided to build a platform that was free. Their initial, foundational business model was an effective, complex crowdsourcing arbitrage: users would learn a language for free by translating actual web documents, and Duolingo would sell those translations to companies like CNN and BuzzFeed to generate revenue. However, as the app exploded in popularity, they realized the translation business was inefficient and distracting. They made a critical pivot, dropping the translation business and relying entirely on the successful freemium subscription model. By applying data analytics to calibrate the dopamine hits of gamification (streaks, leaderboards, and the notoriously demanding Owl mascot), von Ahn and Hacker transformed a noble academic project into a profitable, publicly traded global phenomenon. Luis von Ahn was born in 1978 in Guatemala City. Education: Duke University; American School of Guatemala.
Severin Hacker
Severin Hacker co-founded Duolingo with Luis von Ahn in 2011. While pursuing his PhD at Carnegie Mellon, he developed the algorithmic architecture that broke down translation tasks into structured language lessons. As Chief Technology Officer, he scaled the platform's infrastructure and engineered the gamification systems and machine learning models that track user progression. He guided the technical transition from crowdsourced translation to a dedicated educational platform.
Key Milestones
Language Incubator Launched
Duolingo launched a crowdsourced language incubator in October 2013 so volunteers could build new courses.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDuolingo English Test Launches
The company launches an online English proficiency assessment.
Source: sec.govSeries F at $1.5 Billion
Duolingo raised $30 million in December 2019 at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSeries H at $2.4 Billion
Duolingo raised $35 million in November 2020 at a $2.4 billion valuation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquired Gunner
Duolingo acquired Gunner. Brought the Detroit animation studio behind much of Duolingo's character art in-house.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquired NextBeat
Duolingo acquired NextBeat. Acquired the music-gaming startup to strengthen the Duolingo music course.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgQ2 2026 Results
Revenue $298.5M (+18%), DAUs 58.7M (+23%), paid subscribers 12.7M (+17%).
Source: finance.yahoo.comMajor Acquisitions
Gunner
2022Brought the Detroit animation studio behind much of Duolingo's character art in-house.
NextBeat
2025Acquired the music-gaming startup to strengthen the Duolingo music course.
Hobbes
2024Acquired the Detroit animation and motion-design studio Hobbes on July 9, 2024, adding twelve motion designers, animators and producers.
Keep researching Duolingo
Duolingo Company History FAQ
What is the chronological history of Duolingo from 2011 to the present day?
Founded in 2011 at Carnegie Mellon, Duolingo launched its app in 2012, introduced the Duolingo English Test in 2014, launched Super Duolingo in 2017, achieved a landmark NASDAQ IPO in 2021, and expanded into Math, Music, and GPT-4-powered Duolingo Max in 2023.
When did Duolingo launch publicly and win Apple's iPhone App of the Year?
Duolingo launched publicly on iOS and Android in June 2012. In December 2013, Apple named Duolingo the 'iPhone App of the Year', the first time an educational app ever won the prestigious global award.
When was the Duolingo English Test (DET) created?
Duolingo launched the Duolingo English Test in 2014 to break the high-cost barrier of legacy language proficiency testing, expanding during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person test centers shut down, gaining acceptance at thousands of universities worldwide.
When did Duolingo launch the 'Plus' (now Super Duolingo) subscription service?
In 2017, Duolingo launched Duolingo Plus (later rebranded as Super Duolingo), introducing optional paid subscriptions for ad-free learning and offline downloads, which became the financial engine of the company.
When did Duolingo complete its Initial Public Offering on the NASDAQ?
Duolingo completed its IPO on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on July 28, 2021, under the ticker DUOL at an offering price of $102 per share, raising over $520 million and valuing the company at more than $5 billion.
How did Duolingo introduce the 'Path' redesign in 2022?
In late 2022, Duolingo overhauled its home screen from the open 'Tree' layout into a streamlined, linear 'Path', applying spaced-repetition science to guide learners through optimal combinations of new lessons, reviews, and story practices.
When were Duolingo Math, Music, and Duolingo Max launched?
In 2023, Duolingo launched Duolingo Max (powered by GPT-4) and unified Duolingo Math and Duolingo Music into a single multi-subject app, transforming Duolingo from a language platform into a comprehensive learning ecosystem.
What is Duolingo's long-term vision for the future of global education?
Duolingo's long-term vision is to develop the world's best education and make it universally available, leveraging artificial intelligence, science, and joyful gamification to unlock economic opportunity and human potential for billions of people worldwide.
How did Duolingo start?
Duolingo was founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn (a professor at Carnegie Mellon) and his graduate student Severin Hacker. Von Ahn had previously invented reCAPTCHA (sold to Google), and wanted to apply the same concept of crowdsourced human effort to translate the internet while simultaneously teaching people languages for free.
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