Stimuler, a voice-first AI tutor for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) users has raised $3.75 million in Pre-Series A funding from Lightspeed, SWC Global, and other investors including MVP, Rebright, Force Ventures, GradCapital, and Operators Studio. The funds will be used to scale Stimuler's in-house AI infrastructure, grow its technical team, and accelerate user acquisition aiming to increase monetization by over 5X in the next 12-18 months and become the #1 education app in LATAM and Southeast Asia (SEA).
Built in India for the world, Stimuler is reimagining how English learners practice and perfect their speaking skills through advanced voice AI technology. With over 4Million app installs, a fivefold increase in the past year, and over 45,000 paying users across Android and iOS, the platform is rapidly gaining traction across global emerging markets. The majority of its paying user base today comes from outside India, with strong adoption in Latin America (LATAM) and Southeast Asia (SEA), particularly Indonesia. With this funding round, Stimuler is poised to redefine how people learn, practice & gain proficiency in English across geographies, empowering more and more users to unlock new personal and professional opportunities.
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| Akshay Akash, Co-Founder & CEO, Stimuler |
On the successful fundraise, Akshay Akash, CEO of Stimuler said, "At Stimuler, our goal is simple, to make fluent English speaking accessible to people worldwide. This funding allows us to deepen our investment in AI infrastructure, expand our reach across LATAM and SEA, and move closer to becoming the #1 education app in these key markets. We believe our India-to-the-world and voice-first approach positions us uniquely to address the unmet needs of a billion English learners."
Harsha Kumar, Partner, Lightspeed said, "Stimuler is solving a universal need - making spoken English proficiency more accessible with sharp execution and deep product insight. Akshay and his team are building a truly global company from India, with early traction across LATAM and SEA geographies validating both the opportunity as well as the approach. As voice AI transforms learning, I believe Stimuler has built a platform to lead the category for the next billion users. We are excited to back their journey.”
Tuck Lye Koh, founding partner at SWC Global said - "Consumer AI is an interesting category globally for us and the team at Stimuler has built a global-ready product which is seeing a strong user engagement. We are looking forward to our partnership with Akshay and team to build Stimuler into a leading Spoken English platform globally".
Stimuler's voice-first AI technology provides users with real-time, comprehensive feedback on fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, combined with tailored exercises to drive objective improvement. The company operates with a lean team and has already attracted early paying users from over 175 countries. Its innovative approach was recognized with the Google Play Best App with AI award in 2023.
About Stimuler: Stimuler is a voice-first AI tutor designed to help English-as-a-second-language users improve their speaking skills. Built in India for the world, the platform has paying users across 150+ countries, with strong traction in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India. Leveraging advanced speech analysis and AI-driven learning, Stimuler is transforming how people learn and practice spoken English. For more information, visit www.stimuler.ai
About Lightspeed: Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. For more information, visit: www.lsip.com
Harsha Kumar, Partner, Lightspeed said, "Stimuler is solving a universal need - making spoken English proficiency more accessible with sharp execution and deep product insight. Akshay and his team are building a truly global company from India, with early traction across LATAM and SEA geographies validating both the opportunity as well as the approach. As voice AI transforms learning, I believe Stimuler has built a platform to lead the category for the next billion users. We are excited to back their journey.”
Tuck Lye Koh, founding partner at SWC Global said - "Consumer AI is an interesting category globally for us and the team at Stimuler has built a global-ready product which is seeing a strong user engagement. We are looking forward to our partnership with Akshay and team to build Stimuler into a leading Spoken English platform globally".
Stimuler's voice-first AI technology provides users with real-time, comprehensive feedback on fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, combined with tailored exercises to drive objective improvement. The company operates with a lean team and has already attracted early paying users from over 175 countries. Its innovative approach was recognized with the Google Play Best App with AI award in 2023.
About Stimuler: Stimuler is a voice-first AI tutor designed to help English-as-a-second-language users improve their speaking skills. Built in India for the world, the platform has paying users across 150+ countries, with strong traction in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India. Leveraging advanced speech analysis and AI-driven learning, Stimuler is transforming how people learn and practice spoken English. For more information, visit www.stimuler.ai
About Lightspeed: Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. For more information, visit: www.lsip.com
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