Babbel brings its B2B language learning service to the US – TechCrunch

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Popular subscription-based online language learning service Babel today announced some updates about its US business – the Berlin-based company’s largest market by overall revenue and fastest growing. In the year By the first half of 2022, the company had sold over 1 million subscriptions in the US and is now expanding its B2B business to the US as well.

A few years ago, Babbell set its sights on the US when it brought on Julie Hansen, former COO and president of Business Insider, as CRO and US CEO. No wonder the company is now looking to expand its B2B business. So far, the company only expects to see 6% of its total revenue come from its B2B business by the end of the year, but it’s a growing part of its overall business. “B2B is a slow build,” Hanson told me. “It’s a people-driven business. But it is growing well. This year we are ahead of the target.

Babbel US CEO Julie Hansen at TechCrunch Riot Berlin 2018 at the Treptow Arena.  They speak on stage in Berlin, Germany on November 30, 2018.

Babbel US CEO Julie Hansen at TechCrunch Riot Berlin 2018 at the Treptow Arena. They speak on stage in Berlin, Germany on November 30, 2018.

To push forward, Babbel has hired sales people in the US and is starting to gain some traction with US businesses, including several MLB teams. Hansen pointed out that the American market is very different from the European market in this respect.

“[The U.S. market] It’s different from Europe, where we’re serving a predominantly white audience – multinational companies, sometimes front-line workers, hotel desks, etc. In the U.S., we have some of that, but we have a lot of what you might consider a blue-collar workforce,” Hansen said.

Overall, the B2B side of the company works with over 1,000 companies and is seeing over 100% revenue renewal rates.

She also notes how Babel has evolved from its origins as a mobile app in recent years. The company, for example, has launched more than 20 podcasts in recent years, but from a business point of view, its live segments also continue to grow. Hansen says Babbel’s live classes have seen 300% year-over-year user growth and 400% year-over-year revenue growth, something Babbel attributes to changing the business model for these live classes from pre-class pricing to all-you-can-eat. – Eat (or learn?) subscription model. In Europe, the company’s live businesses saw more than 1 million euros in revenue in May and June, the company told me, and it has now launched in the US.

Like other educational apps, Babbel got some tailwinds during the previous pandemic as people decided they could learn a new language while stuck at home. Interestingly, Babel never saw a real slowdown in the later stages of the pandemic, as travel has once again become a major motivator for its customers.

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