Who Owns Duolingo?

Who owns Duolingo?
Duolingo is a publicly traded company owned by its shareholders. It trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol DUOL. The company has a dual-class share structure with Class A shares (one vote per share) for public investors and Class B shares (20 votes per share) held by co-founders Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, giving them significant voting control. Major institutional holders include Vanguard Group and BlackRock.

Is Duolingo publicly traded?
Yes, Duolingo is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol DUOL. The company went public in July 2021 in an IPO that raised approximately $521 million. Duolingo reported FY2025 revenue of $1.04 billion and net income of $414.1 million. The company's FY2026 revenue guidance is $1.20 to $1.22 billion.

Who founded Duolingo?
Duolingo was founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, both of whom were at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Von Ahn, a Guatemalan-American computer scientist, previously invented CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA and sold reCAPTCHA to Google in 2009. He conceived Duolingo as a way to provide free, high-quality language education to people worldwide.

Where is Duolingo headquartered?
Duolingo is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, where it was founded. The company maintains additional offices in New York, San Francisco, and other locations, with a significant portion of its workforce working remotely. Duolingo employs approximately 850 people globally, with its largest workforce concentration in the United States.

What is Duolingo's annual revenue?
Duolingo reported FY2025 revenue of $1.04 billion, a 39% increase from $748 million in 2024. The company achieved net income of $414.1 million and adjusted EBITDA of $305.9 million in 2025. In Q2 2026, revenue was $298.5 million, up 18% year-over-year. Duolingo's FY2026 revenue guidance is $1.20 to $1.22 billion, representing 15% to 18% growth.

What brands does Duolingo own?
Duolingo's product portfolio includes the Duolingo App (core language-learning platform), Super Duolingo (premium subscription), Duolingo Max (higher-tier subscription with AI features), Duolingo English Test (online English proficiency assessment), Duolingo for Schools (classroom tool), Duolingo ABC (literacy app for children), Duolingo Math, Duolingo Music, and Duolingo Chess.

What are Duolingo's key initiatives?
Duolingo's key initiatives in 2026 include prioritizing user growth and teaching quality over short-term monetization, expanding AI-powered Video Call features (with Lily and Falstaff) to more subscribers, expanding content to CEFR B2 level across nine languages, growing new subjects (chess, math, and music), testing a lower-priced Super Lite subscription tier, and working toward the medium-term goal of 100 million daily active users by 2028.

What controversies has Duolingo faced?
Duolingo has faced criticism that its gamified approach does not produce conversational fluency, controversy over contractor layoffs in 2024 that replaced some roles with AI, and backlash over an internal memo about assessing employee performance based on AI usage (which the company subsequently reversed). The Duolingo English Test has also faced scrutiny over test security and cheating prevention in at-home testing environments.