Mondly

Mondly is an educational technology company that develops a freemium language learning platform which includes a website and apps with free and paid courses for 33 languages. Mondly is also a pioneer in VR Education, with its most recent launch on Meta Quest being in the top 10 VR apps worldwide. Starting May 2022, Mondly became a part of Pearson.

Mondly is a freemium language-learning platform. Consisting of a website and apps that help people learn foreign languages. Based on a method that combines vocabulary and phrase learning with speech recognition and chatbot technologies.

History
Mondly is based in Brașov, Romania and was founded at the end of 2013 by Alexandru Iliescu and Tudor Iliescu, graduates of Transilvania University of Brașov.

The company launched the first app in May 2014 on AppStore and on Google Play in June 2015. A year later, in August 2016, launched the first chatbot with speech recognition on both iTunes and Google Play.

In February 2017, Mondly launched MondlyVR, a virtual reality language app with speech recognition. By September, the app was availablle in both Oculus Store and Google Play.

In May 2017, the company launched MondlyKids, an iOS and Android language app for children aged 5 to 12. In March 2018, launched MondlyAR, the first augmented reality language app with speech recognition.

In early 2020, Mondly made its main app available on Huawei AppGallery.

In October 2020, Mondly announced its partnership with Oxford University Press on a new suite of custom English grammar and vocabulary tests.

Following a rise in interest in VR education, the company launched Mondly VR on the Oculus Quest store in August 2021.

In the third quarter of 2021, Mondly became the second most downloaded language learning app worldwide.

Language courses
As of 2017, Mondly had courses for 33 languages using localized content in 33 native languages. The available levels of language proficiency are beginner, intermediate and advanced.

In 2020, the app introduced courses for 8 new languages: Bengali, Catalan, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Products
Mondly Languages is a language learning app that integrates chatbot and speech recognition technologies to help users learn any of the 33 languages it offers.

Mondly Kids is a language learning app for toddlers and kids.

MondlyVR is a language learning app in virtual reality available on Steam and the Oculus Store compatible with Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest headsets.

MondlyAR features an avatar “teacher” who brings virtual objects – planets, animals, musical instruments, etc. – into the room as teaching tools, engages the user in conversations and gives instant feedback on pronunciation using the chatbot technology.

Recognition and awards
In January 2016, Mondly Languages was named “Best New App” by Apple and a year later it received the FbStart “App of the Year ” award for Europe, Middle East & Africa offered by Facebook.

In December 2017, Mondly Languages and MondlyKids have both been chosen as “Editors’ Choice” in Google Play.

In 2018, Mondly was named a “Cool Vendor” in Consumer Mobile Applications and Bots by Gartner and included in Deloitte’s Fast 50 Rising Stars. Alexandru Iliescu, the CEO and co-founder of Mondly, was named Founder of the Year at the Central European Startup Awards.

In February 2019, the founders of Mondly were awarded the “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year: Technology & Innovation” prize by Ernst & Young. In July, Mondly was named "Best Online Language Learning Portal” in Germany by the Deutsches Institut für Service-Qualität.

In November 2021, Mondly won the Chairman’s Award at the WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards.