ELSA raises US$15 million in Series B funding

Vietnam: ELSA, a mobile app that uses Artificial Intelligence and speech recognition technology to help language learners improve their English speaking skills and pronunciation, has secured US$15 million in Series B funding, co-led by Vietnam Investments Group and SIG.

This new capital will go towards R&D to further develop its voice recognition AI, build a scalable B2B platform and hire new talent.

ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) was founded in 2015 by Stanford alum Vu Van and Dr. Xavier Anguera.

With over 13 million users worldwide, the app claims it helps language learners with an easy way to improve their English speaking ability by listening to how they pronounce words, sentences, or conversations to pinpoint exact errors and provide real-time, accurate suggestions on their pronunciation mistakes.

With the increase of remote work and investment from companies looking to improve the English speaking skills of their staff, especially in Asia and LatAm regions, ELSA said it has inked many partnerships with corporations and educational institutions worldwide.

The firm’s geographical expansion will focus on the LatAm region where it has experienced exponential growth, plus ongoing investment in Vietnam, India, and Japan, where growth was 5x last year with additional demand anticipated in 2021.