AI-based English learning app Speak makes Forbes' 2025 AI 50 list

Screens of AI-based English learning app Speak / Courtesy of Speakeasy Labs

Speakeasy Labs Korea's AI-based English learning app, Speak, has been named to Forbes' 2025 AI 50, becoming the only language education company to make the list this year.

“Being selected for the Forbes AI 50, which only nominates the most innovative companies in the global AI technology field, is a meaningful moment that recognizes the value of our technology and vision," Connor Zwick, CEO of Speak, said in a press release.

"Language is more than just a means of communication, but the key to global careers and cross-cultural communication. Speak will continue to break down language barriers with AI technology and create a world where people can communicate confidently."

Launched in 2018, the global publishing company’s AI 50 list annually selects private companies that have contributed to solving real-life problems with AI. This year, 1,860 companies registered as candidates, from which the finalists were selected by Silicon Valley's venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and investment firm Meritech Capital.

The finalists were selected based on their technological capabilities, AI utilization and business potential through quantitative algorithms and qualitative evaluation by the related experts.

Along with Speak, this year’s list includes prominent global AI tech companies and labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Cohere.

The language learning app, which launched in Korea in 2019, now has approximately 10 million users worldwide for English and Spanish learning solutions, based on its proprietary AI voice recognition technology and features that allow learning through generated conversation.

The company successfully raised about 110 billion won ($77.24 million) in Series C funding in 2024, becoming a unicorn valued at 1.4 trillion won.