Mobile English learning app gets US$15m founding

Singapore

ELSA, a mobile app that helps non-native English speakers improve pronunciation and speaking skills, secured US$15 million in a funding round co-led by Vietnam Investments Group and SIG.

Existing backers including Google's artificial intelligence-focused venture fund Gradient Ventures, SOSV and Monk's Hill Ventures joined the company's Series B financing round.

ELSA - which stands for English Language Speech Assistant - was co-founded in 2015 by Vietnamese entrepreneur Vu Van and engineer Xavier Anguera. The app was born out of Ms Van's experiences while she was studying in the United States as a non-native English speaker.

She teamed up with Mr Anguera, who specialised in digital speech processing, and rolled out the service in Vietnam before expanding to India and Japan. The app has 13 million users and the company's revenue increased almost 300 per cent in 2020.

"We wanted to go to Vietnam first because it's where my heart is and I know how it can help people in my home country, but we have been setting out for a global mission since the very early days," said Ms Van, ELSA's 37-year-old chief executive officer. The startup now plans to enter Latin America and accelerate expansion across Asia this year, she said.

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked greater demand for online learning. While ELSA's users typically comprise people aged 15 to 35, it is attracting more children between the ages of six and 15 as parents look to the Internet to help educate them.

ELSA's users pay a subscription fee, ranging from about US$3-4 a month in Vietnam to about US$7-8 in Japan, according to the company. BLOOMBERG