[6] The company was founded in August 2007 by Thomas Holl, Toine Diepstraten, Lorenz Heine and Markus Witte.

[7][8] In January 2008, the language learning platform went online with community features as a free beta version.

[9] In March 2013, Babbel acquired San Francisco startup PlaySay Inc. to expand into the United States.

[10][11] As part of the acquisition, PlaySay's founder and CEO joined Babbel as a strategic advisor.

[13][14] Other participants in this round include previous investors Reed Elsevier Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners,[15] and VC Fonds Technology Berlin.