Voxy is an American eLearning company providing institutions with adaptive and personalized instruction for learning English, online and through smartphone apps. Voxy has three million users in more than 20 countries, and in 2013 said it had been rated the best or best-selling iTunes education app in 23 countries. Voxy was founded in February 2010 by Gregg Carey and Paul Gollash. The company is headquartered in New York City, and also has an office in São Paulo, Brazil. Its website is in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
History
Voxy officially launched at TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 in San Francisco. The executive chairman of the Voxy board is Timothy Murray. PhD linguist Katharine B. Nielson is the chief education officer. In 2014, after receiving increased interest in the Voxy platform from several universities, Voxy expanded its offerings to corporations and educational institutions. Voxy software is used by universities, language institutes, and corporations in countries including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Argentina, Vietnam, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Italy and Spain. In 2013, Voxy partnered with Pearson PLC to expand to more countries including China. The company developed an online English course for Internet multinational Terra Networks. Voxy's biggest market is Brazil. Prior to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Voxy distributed its English language-learning platform to 40,000 affiliates of the car service 99Taxis. In 2014, Voxy announced a partnership with Brothers For All, a South African nonprofit dedicated to providing educational support to ex-inmates of the South African prison system and at-risk youth. Voxy donated free software licenses to the new Brothers For All study center in Langa, South Africa, giving students in an underserved community full access to Voxy's platform and credits to enroll in live group classes. In December 2015, Voxy received a patent for its customized keyword extraction process for second language learning.
Product
Voxy is built on the principles of task-based language learning, and tailors every single course based on learners’ daily performance, proficiency levels, personal goals, and interests. The Voxy curriculum uses authentic content that is relevant to learners, including up-to-date news articles from leading publishers, English songs, videos of people accomplishing daily tasks, and audio recordings of real-life situations. Voxy delivers a fully integrated web and mobile platform that syncs across all of a user's devices. The platform includes live in-product instruction through one-on-one tutoring sessions and group classes with certified teachers who provide real-time feedback. Voxy also offers advanced reporting, dashboard visualization, and performance analytics to keep track of how learners are doing. To assess proficiency level at the beginning of the program, Voxy uses its own proprietary test, the Voxy Proficiency Assessment™. Learners can retake the VPA™ every three months to measure their improvement, and courses will automatically adapt to updated proficiency levels. Voxy has pioneered numerous innovations in contextual learning, including the use of natural language processing tools and geo-location.
Funding
In its Series A round, Voxy received $4.1 million in funding from investors including Weld North, New York City Investment Fund, Seavest Inc., Contour Venture Partners, and ff Venture Capital. Voxy received $2.3 million in funding from return investors including ff Venture Capital, Contour Venture Partners, and Seavest Capital Partners in a Series A-2 round in 2012. In 2013, Voxy received $8.5 million from Pearson in a Series B with participation from Rethink Education. Voxy raised a $12 million funding found in March 2017, which was dedicated to the expansion of its e-learning app. The funding round was led by SFJ Ventures.
Awards and recognition
named Voxy one of the 10 best U.S. technology companies to work for in 2012, and Internet Week New York named Voxy one of the top 30 places to work in the New York City tech industry in 2014. In 2015, Voxy was recognized as an Academics' Choice Award Winner for "Smart Media."
