Would you like to learn French while playing? Or maybe Valyrian, the language of *Game of Thrones*?

That’s why Duolingo was created—the app developed by Luis Von Ahn, the Guatemalan scientist who invented CAPTCHA, along with a college classmate. The app has had 600 million downloads to date and has 15 million daily active users, but, 10 years after its founding, it needs to figure out how to become profitable.

What is Duolingo's main appeal? Its interface is fun and makes learning feel like a game. And it’s used by a wide range of users, from Americans learning the basics of the language of the country they’re traveling to, to Syrian refugees in Stockholm learning Swedish. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of people in Europe interested in learning Ukrainian on Duolingo skyrocketed so they could help refugees fleeing the war. Half of its users are located outside the U.S.

Duolingo is built on a massive machine-learning system that collects and analyzes data from nearly one billion daily user interactions, thereby refining and customizing its courses. The company went public in 2021, and by the end of November had 500 employees and a market capitalization of US$2.7 billion.

Duolingo has prioritized growth over profitability, and it has paid off. It dominates the language app category, accounting for two-thirds of downloads and usage, according to Sensor Tower. Most users use the free, ad-supported version of the app.

A small percentage opts for the Plus version, which costs US$12.99 per month in the U.S.

The philosophy behind Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally accessible. This year, it launched two apps: Duolingo ABC, to teach reading, and Duolingo Math, to teach basic math operations. Under this philosophy, the idea is to focus on volume, so that the small percentage of users who opt for the Plus version—if that trend continues—will become increasingly significant. So far, it seems to have worked: paid subscribers have tripled since the start of the pandemic, reaching 3.7 million users. It’s estimated that the company’s revenue could exceed $365 million this year. The company has other revenue streams, such as in-app purchases and English tests. Will this be enough to achieve profitability? It’s too early to say, but many analysts believe the company still has a lot of potential.

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