This is ELSA
Our Story

It all started when Vu Van, CEO and co-founder of ELSA Speak, left Vietnam to pursue an MBA and Masters in Education at Stanford University. Vu was confident in her English vocabulary but knew she had a strong Vietnamese accent. Her professors and classmates could not always understand what she was saying, which led her to feel that her opinions in class were often dismissed.

Vu realized she was not facing this problem alone. Most of her international friends encountered the same communication barrier in their first year studying abroad. Yet when she looked into this problem, she found few solutions.

Searching for a co-founder, Vu asked Dr. Xavier Anguera, a respected speech technologist, to help form the new company. In 2015, they officially launched ELSA Speak. Ever since, ELSA Speak has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 4 best companies utilizing Artificial Intelligence to change the world, and was ranked in the Top 5 AI Apps, along with Microsoft’s Cortana and Google’s Google Allo. ELSA Speak is currently used by millions of learners around the globe.

Our Mission

ELSA Speak uses technology and design to enable people around the world to speak English with confidence. We aim to unlock greater opportunities for billions of language learners around the world.

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Our Milestones

2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 • Winner of SxSW Edu Launch • Winner of Best digital learning app by Reimagine Education... • Secured $7M from Gradient Ventures (Series A) • Top 15 “Best A.I. Apps for Android & iOS” by Easy Tech Trick ... • Raised $3.2M from Monk’s Hill Ventures (Pre Series A) • Top 13 promising tech startups in Southeast Asia (by South China Morning Post) • Secured $7M from Gradient Ventures (Series A) • Established in India, Indonesia, Japan • Honorable mention in the Fast Company 2020 World Changing ... • Received Series B Funding, $15M • Launched ELSA Pro, ELSA Dashboard • Announced partnerships with Bosch, FPT, AstraZeneca, Fulbright University, Huali, CNA Go, Kyoto University, POPS Kids, VinID • Launched Speech Analyzer, and ELSA for Students • Announced partnerships with BRI, Kyotango Board of Education (Japan), Edulinx (Japan), IDP, Oxford University, Pearson, HarperCollins • Reached over 50M downloads and 1.6M reviews! • Established Japanese subsidiary in Tokyo • Launched partnership with COMPASS (Qubena) in Japan

Our Milestones

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
  • Received Series B Funding, $15M
  • Launched ELSA Pro, ELSA Dashboard
  • Announced partnerships with Bosch, FPT, AstraZeneca, Fulbright University, Huali, CNA Go, Kyoto University, POPS Kids, VinID

Proud winner of

Launch Winner

The EdTech Awards 2021

World changing ideas 2020

Best Digital Contant

Top 4 best AI companies

#1
Education App

Fast Facts

Founded in 2015, today ELSA is proud to have grown to

1.5 billion
exercises practiced

Over 50 million
downloads in 195 countries

10
supported languages

We are backed by

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ELSA Team