In 2008 entrepreneurs Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti wanted to create an innovative social platform that would allow for anyone to learn and speak a new language as easily and quickly as possible. With the constant increase in amount of technology used in society, they came up with a software that connects people online teaching one another new language skills.

Busuu is a social network that connects students to native speakers and provides interactive courses in 12 different languages. The platform allows students to take lessons anytime and anywhere, even when they are offline, as long as you have your phone, you have Busuu.

Busuu currently has over 70 million users worldwide and it allows to have your writing exercises corrected by real people. In 2016 Busuu obtained a Series B funding round of $6.5 million with McGraw-Hill Education and doubled the size of its team. This allowed for the company to further expand and develop its innovative platform.

The online language platform teaches students to use advanced grammar and prompts them to take level tests and attain official McGraw-Hill level completion certificates. Additionally the option of speaking to real life native speakers is also available, which is a great way for students to put their skills into practise.

The concept of Busuu and the software components associated to creating such a platform are considered to be Research and Development. As a result the company is eligible for a significant rebate on its R&D expenditure. The available tax relief on R&D activities is very generous and should be utilised, to find out more contact a Swanson Reed R&D specialist today.