Almost 20.000 users in 8 months,
raises 800.000 euro in 1st financing
round, wins prize for one of the most
promising ICT companies in Benelux.
Amsterdam, August 2008
– Since December 2007,
Myngle.com has been bringing
together language teachers and students
from all over the world enabling
live lessons for
conversational practice over the
Internet. Myngle offers a
solution that provides the possibility
of teaching or receiving live one-on-one
classes from the comfort of your home
for practically any language and level
from any type of teacher.
Since last December almost 20.000 users
registered on Myngle for teaching or
taking language lessons. Myngle also
closed a first financing round raising
800.000 euro from both professionals and
private investors. On the Benelux
Venture 50 conference Myngle was elected
one of the most promising ICT start ups
in the Benelux.
How does it work?
Basically Myngle removes the physical
dimension to learning a new language,
and allows students and teachers to get
together for real time lessons in the
best possible combinations, at the most
convenient times, and – crucially –
between any two points in the world.
Anyone who wants to learn a language can
come to Myngle.com to find the right
teacher and the right course, for the
right price, at the right time. Students
are able to find teachers online for any
language, and a method that meets their
individual needs. At this moment, Myngle
offers about 900 different
teacher/course combinations students can
choose from, and to help students choose
from the wide variety on offer, Myngle
has developed the first in online
education special search algorithm that
matches the student’s needs with the
right course.
Teachers (and even offline language
schools) are be able to reach students
anywhere in the world, and showcase
their abilities and services to a much
wider audience.
How do teachers and students
communicate?
Myngle offers a toolkit for synchronous
learning, which consists of VoIP (Skype)
plus own integrated whiteboard, payment
systems (Paypal), feedback and a
community environment.
Myngle's feedback system is made up of
comments and ratings left by students
who were taught by the relevant teacher.
These comments and ratings are available
in the public Feedback Profile of each
member. Extra features will gradually be
added to enrich the learning experience,
such as podcasts, homework, 3D virtual
reality classroom / role plays etc.
˜We conveniently eliminate the need for
face-to-face interaction between
students and teachers and, with it, the
requirement for physical displacement",
says Marina Tognetti, founder and CEO of
Myngle.com. "Not only does this offer
significant cost and time savings,
eliminate capacity constraints and
extend student's and teacher's reach to
virtually any point in the world, but it
also allows for an efficient, rich and
fun way of learning foreign languages",
says Tognetti.
Why now?
The time is ripe for the expansion of
the language teaching market from
offline to online for a number of
different reasons: free of charge high
quality VoIP (Skype), high international
broadband penetration and whiteboard
technology are now available at mass
prices. Also, the increasing success of
community websites like Facebook and
MySpace (or Hyves in the Netherlands)
has expanded communication and social
interaction beyond the restricted circle
of geographical reach. Last, but most
important, the internet generation has
now gained spending power and developed
interest in language learning.
Students can find a wide range of native
teachers as well as a wide variety of
courses on Myngle, while they can
schedule their classes according to
their own needs. Teachers and language
schools can inc rease their reach
enormously on Myngle, able to target a
global market otherwise inaccessible to
them, with low acquisition costs and a
complete infrastructure ready made for
them. This will also enable the global
trend of professionals trying to work
independently, which is a trend that has
been accelerating in the past 20 years.
˜Myngle can play an extra important role
in some key languages with high or
rapidly growing demand, but with a
shortage of local supply of native
teachers, like Mandarin, Russian,
Arabic, Spanish in US and Brazil and
English to Chinese learners. We expect
approximately 15% of the offline
language learning market in the western
countries to move online in the next few
years. This assumes a relative 50%
broadband penetration, 30% VOIP
propensity and 20% lower prices compared
to offline live tutoring," says Tognetti.
For more market data about the online
language learning industry please see
our
appendix.
˜We are at the beginning of a very
special journey because we are creating
something that does not exist yet," says
Tognetti. ˜Together with our community
we will build Myngle according to their
wishes, and no one knows what Myngle
will look like in 5 years from now."
About Myngle
Myngle is the global online language
e-learning platform, connecting people
and cultures from all over the world.
Myngle's vision is unique, in the sense
that it is intent on creating a
content-rich marketplace, where all
tools and services that are required for
efficient live online language
instruction can be found.
However, we will not stop there, as a
vibrant community will interact via
Blogs, which are already active, and
other community-related activities,
which will further enhance the learning
of new languages – and new cultures.
Myngle's team is an experienced team who
combines expertise in internet and
education, with two of the founders
coming from eBay
(global online auction platform), and
two other founders coming from
Berlitz (one of the world’s
largest language institutions).
Myngle's team has a broad international
set up, consisting of people from The
Netherlands, Italy, Hong Kong, Brazil,
Ukraine, England, Indonesia, Nepal and
South Korea with added support from
people scattered over 4 continents.
For additional information, demo
lessons, screenshots, or photos please
contact:
http://www.myngle.com
Egbert van KeulenÂ
 tel: ++31-617704408
Skype: egbertvankeulen
e-mail:
egbert@myngle.com
