The MIT-born EdTech has revolutionized employees’ professional development through its industry-specific AI-driven platform providing English learning through the world’s largest collection of professional and technical courses. Slang’s arrival in the U.S. will foster greater inclusivity in the workplace and prepare the workforce with the necessary skill set to reach their full potential.
Boston, Massachusetts, January 24, 2022 – EdTech Slang announced the start of operations in the United States. Slang will expand upon its well-established leadership in the Latin American market as the most-trusted certifier for professional English. Since its founding in 2013, Slang has partnered with leading companies, such as Nestlé and Toshiba, to upskill more than 415K employees with its courses. The global expansion follows increasing demand from Slang’s clients from their proprietary AI-driven platform to enhance the capabilities of their global workforces.
Founded by Diego Villegas and Kamran Khan, graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Slang if the first solution of its kind that moves beyond basic English and instead helps companies upskill their workers with professional English courses at scale. Slang is confident that its industry-specific English learning, applicable to a diverse set of professions and careers will be highly sought after in the U.S. market. The EdTech currently provides a tailored language-learning experience to around 1,700 industry-specific job titles. Its U.S. operations strategy will focus initially on SMEs that have a large proportion of non-native English speakers in their workforce as well as the transportation & logistics, technological, oil & gas, chemical, machinery, and construction sectors. The company will focus first on expanding its presence in Texas and soon after launch in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
“Our mission is to change the game regarding productivity and inclusion. Expanding our service offering to U.S.-based companies is the natural next step,” said Diego Villegas, CEO and cofounder at Slang. “Difficulty with the English language can affect one’s ability to earn a competitive salary in the U.S. labor market, prevents employees from exploiting their full potential, or communicating efficiently amongst teams. This is a reality that I encountered in developing my previous venture – MASA, acquired by Stork – where the technical engineering and construction standards were all in technical English which proved challenging for many collaborators. This then led Kamran Khan, cofounder at Slang, and I to develop our product while coursing together at MIT. With our solution, we really want to level the playing field and help foster greater inclusivity in the workplace,” he added.
Among English-speaking countries, the U.S. has one of the largest populations of non-English speakers, as well as the largest presence of multinational companies with global operations. According to the 2019 Census Bureau Language Use Report, 67.8 million people in the U.S. spoke a language other than English at home. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that from 2020 to 2021, the foreign-born labor force increased by 671,000 people in the country. Many of Slang’s clients, including Nestlé and Toshiba, operate on a global scale and already depend on the EdTech’s solution to train non-native English speakers throughout their various departments.
Slang’s 2022 Performance Impact Report shows that among the platform’s users, 41% developed leadership skills, 58% noted improved quality of work, and 11% saw their income increase as a result of their coursework. Slang’s active phase of expansion in the following years will concentrate on growth in the B2B Americas market. After a 2.5x YoY growth, the EdTech will continue operating in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, where they are actively hiring new talent, while also recruiting for positions based in the U.S.
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About Slang
Slang is an extensively flexible English-learning program with the world’s largest offering of courses looking to become the industry standard for developing and certifying professional English. Its modular technology allows the creation of dynamic and optimized learning paths, based on the needs of each user, department, or organization, ensuring a hyper-personalized experience. Slang’s mission is to eradicate professional Illiteracy and enable access to knowledge and professional development.
Slang announced in December 2021 an investment of $14 million in a Series A round led by DILA Capital, Acumen Latam Impact Ventures (ALIVE) and the strategic participation of Roble Ventures. The company continues to generate impact after being highlighted as one of the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers in May 2022, and as one of the 3 most promising language startups in the EdTech sector in Latin America, by HolonIQ in August of the same year. Slang has also been recognized as the most promising EdTech startup by the 2020 GESAwards and nominated as a Top 25 Worldwide Innovator in the EdTech sector in the 2021 ASU+GSV Cup.
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