Language immersion is an essential part of language learning if you want to improve your fluency in a foreign language. Being surrounded by native speakers can help with pronunciation, context building, confidence, and, most importantly, self-confidence.What if you're an eight-year old Spanish-speaking child learning English in Spain and cannot afford a summer trip to the United States?Novakid was founded by Maxim Azarov. It is your best choice. Novakid, a San Francisco-based tech startup that offers English language immersion virtual-only for children aged 4-12 years old, combines a variety of services including tutoring and gamification.Novakid, which closed its Series A round of $4.25million in December 2013, announced today that it has returned with a $35 million Series C financing. It is being led by Owl Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and Goodwater Capital. PortfoLion and LearnStart were also present, as well as TMT Investments and BonAngels.In response to its active year, the startup raised capital. Active client base increased 350% year-over-year, with over 50,000 students currently paying. Novakid will use the money to expand its international market reach and to attract more students to its tools.Two principles underpin the company's services: first, it can engage early-age learners in the world of English at large and secondly, it can be fun to use.Signing up connects users to Novakids' 2,000 tutors who will help them in their first class. Native English speakers must have a B.A. A degree or higher and an international teaching certificate, such as DELTA or CELTA or TESOL, are required.Azarov stated that it is important to learn to understand the language and to interact with people. Azarov stated that the company wants to replicate the environment in which a child learned their first language.The tutors speak English in the class. Users are encouraged to use the same language to build confidence and make mistakes. Novakids' live video-based classes are an important part of its product. Azarov stated that it was important that the company wasn't just offering access to teachers as its main value proposition.He said that most of the competition is taking teachers and making them accessible remotely, so you don't have to travel as much and have more options. If you take a look at the whole industry, there are many people like Oxford, Cambridge and Pearson that provide content for the language learning market. Their product is utterly useless. Novakid invests a lot of energy in creating a better curriculum, which includes games.Gamified content is available in and outside of the classroom. A teacher might take students on a VR-enhanced guided tour of famous landmarks or museums in order to help them learn vocabulary. To get a higher score, self-paced content can look like a multiplayer battle between students who answer questions in a set time. Novakid has a whole team that specializes in game design and development.Students are clicking in. Novakid users spend about two-thirds time on the website with tutors and one-third on self-paced content that was created in-house. Because more students are using the asynchronous content to improve grammar and vocabulary, while teachers are reserved for more complicated information such as speaking and conversation, Novakid wants to change those concentrations.One of the challenges of scaling up a language learning company is that learners need to be motivated. While Gamification is a great way to increase engagement, Novakids clients who are children may be slower to learn than adult learners simply because of their priorities. Azarov stated that while some might view selling to children exclusively as a disadvantage, he sees their focus as differentiation.He said that focusing on your brand will result in better brand equity. He said that the way children learn language is very different from how adults learn it. Therefore, I don't think anyone who tries to do everything will be able do the latter. Novakids' strategy is different from the public company in that it has strong branding.The company's strategy has been successful so far. Its revenue for 2020 was $9M, and it expects to reach $36 million to $45 Million in 2021. The company declined to reveal details about the diversity of its team but said it plans to launch a very intensive recruitment campaign going forward. Azarov intends to increase his 300-person workforce by 200 over the next six months.
