INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The slow and steady rise of Babbel has been impressive on many fronts
The company is now managing the top-grossing language learning app in the world
That why I&m excited to announce that we&ll have founder and CEO Markus Witte as well as CEO U.S
Julie Hansen at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.Babbel has been around for over a decade
The company started with a web-based language learning service
It was based on Adobe Flash and HTML
Now, most Babbel users interact with the service using the company mobile app.And Babbel also represents a European success story
Thanks to the European Union, many people live, work and travel all around Europe
It creates a unique market opportunity as the continent is a highly fragmented market when it comes to languages — there are dozens of
That why building a language learning startup in Berlin is the perfect fit.Babbel operates with a freemium, subscription-based model
Downloading the app is free, but you need to pay a subscription to unlock all the features.More recently, Babbel has been betting on the U.S
as its next market opportunity
Many Europeans want to learn English, and it also true in the U.S
Immigrants want to improve their knowledge of English.It a different market that causes a different set of challenges
That why the company has named Julie Hansen as CEO of the U.S
division of Babbel.If you want to hear both Hansen and Witte talk about Babbel past ten years and the company next ten years, you should
come to Disrupt Berlin.Buy your ticket to Disrupt Berlin to listen to this discussion and many others
The conference will take place on November 29-30.In addition to fireside chats and panels, like this one, new startups will participate in
the Startup Battlefield Europe to win the highly coveted Battlefield cup.Markus WitteBabbel Founder and CEOMarkus Witte is CEO and founder
of Babbel , the world top-grossing language learning app
He describes Babbel as a learning company inside and out: &Heading a team in which each and every person, as well as the organization
itself, is constantly learning new things is incredibly fulfilling.&Markus began his career at NYU, and later lectured at Humboldt
University in Berlin, where he discovered his passion for teaching
Following his time as an academic, he led the development of online marketing and web infrastructure and managed the online and systems
teams at music software company Native Instruments
Coming back to learning and teaching, he founded Babbel with three others in 2007.Julie HansenBabbel CEO U.S.Julie Hansen is CEO U.S
Based in the company New York office she is leading the US expansion of the world top-grossing language learning app.Before joining Babbel,
Julie was the COO and President of Business Insider
Under her leadership the news site became the most visited business outlet on the internet
Prior to Business Insider, Hansen held top management roles at sports site NCAA.com, Condé Nast Publications, and Time Inc
Julie has over two decades of experience growing digital media companies, launching interactive web sites, deploying mobile apps, and
leading online and offline marketing campaigns
She began her career at Penguin Books, publishing learning software for literature among other products.
