Slang, the digital training platform in English for professionals, announced the closing of its Series A investment round for 14 million dollars, led by the Mexican fund DILA Capital and Acumen Latam Impact Ventures (ALIVE), with the participation of Salesforce Ventures , Roble Ventures and Impact Engine.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Lab also participates as an investor to provide support to students, workers and the unemployed population, to increase their skills to enter the labor market, the startup reported in a statement.
This new round of investment will be used to expand its technological infrastructure, launch new functionalities, strengthen its presence in Latin America and lay the foundations for its global expansion.
Slang is a digital platform for teaching English to professionals in specialized areas such as health, law, finance and technology, founded in 2013 by Diego Villegas and Kamran Khan, which as an MIT research project on the use of the technology to accelerate language training.
Currently the company has more than 40,000 active licenses in more than ten countries, with offices in the United States, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, and more than 100 corporate and institutional clients.
“At DILA we believe EdTech is driving the world forward by enabling anyone with Internet access to reach their full potential. We are delighted to partner with Slang to help them achieve the ambitious mission of developing the largest offering of Professional English courses anywhere. place, and help all of Mexico and Latin America access world-class opportunities for education and professional development, “said John Farrell, Venture partner at DILA, who will join Slang’s board of directors, as does Santiago Álvarez , managing partner of ALIVe.
“This is an important step in our mission to eradicate functional illiteracy, as it enables access to learning and new opportunities. With our new partners and resources, we will take this goal to the next level. Our vision is to become the industry standard. for the development and certification of professional English, “said Diego Villegas, CEO and co-founder of the company.
Kahn added that the company will continue to develop research projects for its natural language processing technology and pedagogical approaches.
