While Duolingo taught us words, Speak teaches us to actually talk.

Speak just raised $78M Series C at $1B valuation for AI language tutoring focused on spoken fluency.

• $78M led by Accel (Dec 2024)
• 1B+ sentences spoken by users in 2024
• 85% enterprise adoption rate
• $162M total raised from OpenAI, Khosla, YC

How they built it:
• Identified the gap: apps teach vocabulary but skip actual speaking
• Built proprietary speech recognition + AI adaptation
• Launched conversation-first approach vs gamified lessons
• Expanded to enterprise (200+ customers)
• Secured OpenAI partnership for advanced speech tech

For founders: Find the step everyone else skips in your market.

https://www.speak.com/blog/series-c

Brewed by Startup Beaker.

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