Markus Witte, Thomas Holl, and Lorenz Heine, founded Lesson Nine GmbH, the company behind Babbel in 2007 and in early 2008 Babbel went live. The headquarters of Lesson Nine GMbH are in Berlin, and they also have an office in New York. Currently Lesson Nine GMbH employs 250 people from over 26 nations. This includes linguists, native speakers, authors, translators, product designers, software developers and actors.
Lorenz Heine – Chief Innovative Officer
Markus Witte is the current CE0 of Lesson Nine GMBH, and manages the day to day operations of the company. Thomas Holl is the CTO and in charge of product development. Lorenz Heine is the CIO and responsible for developing new and engaging ways to learn new languages. In 2013 the company purchased PlaySay and its CEO, Ryan Meinzer, became a strategic advisor for Lesson Nine GMbH’s American operations.
Markus Witte – Chief Executive Officer
In 2008, Kizoo Technology Ventures and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft became Babbel’s first investors. Then in 2009, Babbel was granted about one million Euros by the ERDF European Structural Fund. In March 2013 Babbel secured $10 million in Series B funding led by Reed Elsevier Ventures and Nokia Growth Partners.
Thomas Holl – Chief Technological Officer