Duolingo is set to expand its influence in the music education sector following the acquisition of a U.K.-based gaming studio. The company, recognized for its language learning applications, has acquired the team behind NextBeat, a London-based music gaming startup known for developing the Beatstar and Country Star apps. This move allows Duolingo to enhance its Duolingo Music app, launched in 2023, and marks its first operational base in the U.K. The acquisition is seen as a strategic investment in talent, aiming to make Duolingo’s platform more engaging and effective.
Meanwhile, a German ed-tech startup, Paddy, has secured €1 million in pre-seed funding to advance its AI-powered teacher assistant tool in German-speaking regions. The funding round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds and included several other investors. Founded by recent graduates, Paddy seeks to alleviate teachers’ workload by automating repetitive tasks, thereby enhancing student engagement. The startup, which launched in January 2025, already has 12,000 active users and plans to expand across the DACH region. The European ed-tech market, particularly in K-12, is still developing compared to the U.S., but the DACH region shows promising growth potential, with a significant percentage of parents in Austria and Germany recognizing AI’s effectiveness in education.
