Duolingo eyes more than US$3b valuation in US IPO as online learning booms

Duolingo said on Monday (Jul 19) it aims to be valued at as much as US$3.41 billion in its US initial public offering, as the language-learning app maker seeks to cash in on rapidly rising interest for online education tools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 5.1 million shares will be offered in the IPO, priced between US$85 and US$95 each, which would rake in more than US$485 million at the top end of that range.

On a fully diluted basis, which includes securities such as stock options and restricted stock units, Duolingo would be valued at US$4.38 billion at the maximum price.

Nearly 1.4 million shares will be offered by the selling stockholders, proceeds from which will not go to the company.

Duolingo has about 40 million monthly active users learning 40 languages, including Irish and Hawaiian, for which the company claims there are more online learners than there are native speakers.

The Pittsburgh-based company said earlier it had more than doubled its revenue in the first quarter this year, with 72 per cent of it generated from subscriptions and nearly 17 per cent from advertising.

With more than 500 million downloads, its app is the top-grosser in the education category on both Google Play and Apple's App Store.

The company was founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, who met at Carnegie Mellon University when von Ahn was a computer science professor and Hacker, his doctoral student.

Duolingo was valued at US$2.4 billion after an investment from Durable Capital Partners and General Atlantic in November.

Goldman Sachs & Co and Allen & Company are the lead underwriters for the IPO. The company plans to start trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol "DUOL".