Toko is an AI-powered English speaking tutor that lets learners hold short, realistic conversations with an AI and get instant feedback on grammar and pronunciation. Founded in 2021 by MIT engineers Jen Liu and Erica Du and backed by Y Combinator (W22), the New York-based app is especially popular across East Asia, with more than 1 million downloads and tens of thousands of five-star reviews.
Liulishuo (LAIX Inc.) is a Shanghai-based educational technology company that uses artificial intelligence to teach English. Its flagship app, 'English Liulishuo' (known internationally as LingoChamp), pairs proprietary speech-recognition and deep-learning models with an adaptive curriculum to act as a personal 'AI English Teacher.' Founded in 2012 by three engineers with Google and academic backgrounds, the company grew to tens of millions of registered users and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018.