Summit Partners leads $68m round for Lingoda

Conny Boersch, founder of existing investor Mountain Partners, has also participated, the company said in a statement.

Summit managing partner Matthias Allgaier is to join Lingoda's board following the round.

Lingoda intends to use the proceeds of the round to support its expansion to new markets, as well as to develop its online classroom technology.

CEO Mike Shangkuan told Unquote sister publication Mergermarket in May 2020 that the company intended to raise a series-B round in the €10-20m range in 2020 or early 2021, citing the increased demand for online learning services during the coronavirus pandemic.

Shangkuan said the company would be offering a minority stake to potential investors and that the funding was likely to comprise both debt and equity.

At the time, Shangkuan told Mergermarket that the company generated €15m in run rate revenues and had a positive EBITDA margin of 10-15%.

US-headquartered Summit Partners is currently deploying equity via Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund V, which held a final close on its $1bn hard-cap in June 2020.

Buyouts for companies operating in the education provision sector have generated significant interest from private equity in recent years, as reported by Unquote, with the focus shifting increasingly towards digitalisation.

Such companies in the DACH region have generated significant valuations in the past year; in July 2020, Permira acquired Switzerland-headquartered English language school and online course operator EF Kids & Teens in a $1.5bn deal, equating to an entry multiple of more than 15x.

Previous funding
Global Founders Capital invested in Lingoda in June 2013.

German Startups Group made a growth investment in Lingoda in March 2014.

In March 2015, Mountain Partners led a €2.5m round for Lingoda, joined by existing investor Global Founders.

Grazia Equity led a series-A round for the business in 2016.

Company
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Berlin, Lingoda is an online language school offering private and small-group classes in English, business English, French, German and Spanish. The company's platform has 1,400 teachers and has served around 70,000 students to date, offering lessons at any time. The company employs fewer than 200 staff, according to LinkedIn.

People
Lingoda – Michael Shangkuan (CEO).
Summit Partners – Matthias Allgaier (managing director).
Grazia Equity – Jochen Klüppel (partner).

Advisers
Company – GP Bullhound (corporate finance); Vogel Heerma Waitz (V14) (legal).
Equity – Sidley Austin (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• DACH
• Consumer
• Germany
• Venture
• Summit Partners