# Kirill Bigai

> Kirill Bigai is the Ukrainian-born co-founder and CEO of Preply, the online language-learning marketplace that grew from a landing page and manually matched Skype lessons into a global platform serving learners in 180 countries. His career joins engineering, marketplace discipline and a persistent belief that technology works best in education when it strengthens the relationship between a learner and a human tutor.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Preply
- **Organizations:** Preply, Techstars, Creatio, Vodafone Group, Nokia Siemens Networks
- **Nationality:** Ukrainian
- **Education:** Engineering degree, National Technical University of Ukraine 'Kyiv Polytechnic Institute', Master's degree in Business Management, Kyiv National Economic University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Preply from a manually operated tutoring experiment into a global language-learning marketplace., Led Preply through a $150 million Series D in January 2026 that valued the company at $1.2 billion., Helped expand Preply to more than 100,000 tutors serving learners in 180 countries across more than 90 languages.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2012** — Worked in telecoms and enterprise software, including intelligent-network engineering roles at Vodafone Group and Nokia Siemens Networks and product and implementation work at Creatio.
- **2011-2012** — Built FindGuru, a local group-class marketplace; the first startup failed after four months, sharpening his focus on a narrower tutoring problem.
- **2012** — Co-founded Preply and tested the first US-focused version after raising early angel capital.
- **2013** — Returned operations to Kyiv and relaunched Preply as an English-tutoring marketplace after the first model failed to find product-market fit.
- **2013-2015** — Bootstrapped with his co-founders, supplemented income with side work, handled customer support and gradually restored small founder salaries.
- **2015** — Joined the Techstars Berlin accelerator and began pushing Preply from a regional service toward a global marketplace.
- **2019** — Opened a Barcelona hub as the company expanded beyond Kyiv and grew its international team.
- **2020** — Raised a $10 million round while expanding Preply's integrated classroom, curriculum and mobile experience.
- **2023** — Preply announced a $70 million Series C extension to accelerate product development and AI-assisted learning.
- **2026** — Raised a $150 million Series D led by WestCap at a $1.2 billion valuation; the company reported more than 100,000 tutors across 180 countries and 90-plus languages.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Preply from a manually operated tutoring experiment into a global language-learning marketplace.
- Led Preply through a $150 million Series D in January 2026 that valued the company at $1.2 billion.
- Helped expand Preply to more than 100,000 tutors serving learners in 180 countries across more than 90 languages.
- Graduated with Preply from Techstars Berlin in 2015.
- Named one of 24 finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 New England Award.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Discussed Preply's lean early years and the search for an English tutor that inspired the company in a Fortune profile.
- **2026-05** — Preply completed its first employee tender offer, giving eligible team members access to liquidity from their equity.
- **2026-04** — Named a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 New England Award.
- **2026-01** — Preply closed a $150 million Series D led by WestCap at a $1.2 billion valuation.

## Links

- Website: https://preply.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirillbigai
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/kirillbigai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirill.bigai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kirill-bigai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28