Busuu, Centili partner to deliver e-learning in developing markets

Busuu, a language learning app has partnered with Centili, a specialist in connecting online merchants with mobile operators, to reach hundreds of thousands of users in new regions via their mobile operators.

Launched in 2008, Busuu’s global community has grown to over 100 million learners and is recognised as one of the world’s leading EdTech providers. It enables anyone with an internet connection to learn languages, regardless of their location, with most users engaging via their mobile devices.

Busuu supports 12 of the world’s most spoken languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, and Russian, with an interface that is available in numerous additional languages to make Busuu as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible.

Busuu has recently extended its footprint in developing geographies which have been traditionally difficult to reach including North Africa and South-East Asia by partnering with Centili to forge partnerships with mobile operators as a highly effective customer acquisition tool.

The Busuu app is promoted and offered via subscribers’ mobile plan, making it easy for their users to download and try Busuu, those who wish to continue using the service can be easily billed via their operator. To facilitate the commercial and technical elements of this, Busuu uses Centili’s Fusion platform which bundles telco offerings with useful and popular apps, content and special offers.

A partnership with just one North Africa network established via Centili’s bundling platform which takes care of the legal, regulatory and technical challenges working with an MNO, saw Busuu reach hundreds of thousands of mobile subscribers, and offer them the language learning app as a free trial. Many of them downloaded and started using the application, of which the majority continued to use Busuu after the free-trial period.

Valentino Serino, Senior Partnerships Manager at Busuu commented, “We knew partnering with mobile operators would be a fantastic route for acquiring new customers as they have unparalleled reach into the markets we wanted to target. Working with Centili has allowed us to do just that. We identified the countries and networks where bundling partnerships have the potential to do well, and then used Centili experience in navigating telecom integrations, contracts, and commercial agreements.”

Zoran Vasiljev, CEO, Centili Group added, “Busuu is an exciting company with a lot to offer subscribers. Learning a second language is a great skill and the app allows it to be developed at a college level. At Centili we know operators can be invaluable as a partner for online service providers, but also that for operators, being able to offer an extensive range of digital services via subscribers’ mobile packages can enhance the mobile experience they are looking to deliver. By taking out the technical and regulatory obstacles between the two, we allow both to benefit from each other’s value.”