StoryLearning

Name

StoryLearning

Legal name

Olly Richards Publishing, Ltd.

Website

https://storylearning.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Language Learning

NAICS

Language Schools (61163), Language Schools (611630)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Core Digital Curriculum & Courseware (Full Programs & Units) (EDAFACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

General ESL/EFL Coursebooks & Integrated Skills Series (EDAGAHAA)

Keywords

• Language learning platform
• Online language courses
• Story-based learning
• Digital education courses
• Self-study language training

Headquarters

HQ city

Enfield, Middlesex

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Course Sales: One-time payment digital courses ($297 per language course) with upsells including pronunciation masterclasses and conversation collections. Bundle deals offering all courses for $1,597. 7-day free trial followed by conversion to paid access.
2. Book Sales: Physical and digital books in the Short Stories language learning series. Over 2 million copies sold. Author Olly Richards has published 25 language learning books.
3. Affiliate Commissions: 50% commission on all sales made through affiliate links including order bumps and upsells. Paid monthly with 30-day holding period for refunds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

StoryLearning sells self-paced online language courses across 15 languages built around its proprietary StoryLearning Method, an immersive story-based pedagogy that teaches vocabulary and grammar through compelling narratives rather than rote drills. Each course bundles native-speaker audio, video lessons with dedicated tutors, pronunciation training, speaking activities, comprehension quizzes, and private community access, delivered via the company's own course platform and mobile app with downloadable offline content. The company also sells physical and digital books in its Short Stories series, coaching services, and an affiliate program.

Product overview

StoryLearning is a comprehensive language learning platform built around its proprietary StoryLearning Method, which teaches 15 languages through immersive story narratives rather than traditional grammar drills. The core offering consists of individual language courses (the 'Uncovered' series) across Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, Latin, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish—each featuring native audio, video lessons with dedicated tutors, pronunciation training, speaking activities, and comprehension quizzes. The platform also includes a mobile app, podcast, free planning tools (Language Goal Planner, Fluency Blueprint), supplementary grammar/vocab packs, published books, coaching services, and an affiliate program. Courses are priced as one-time payments with 7-day free trials and 365-day money-back guarantees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Uncovered: A comprehensive story-based language course series covering 15+ languages with multiple proficiency levels, featuring native audio, video lessons, and grammar instruction.
• Short Stories Series
• StoryLearning Uncovered All Courses Bundle

Products and services

• StoryLearning Method The proprietary story-based language learning methodology that teaches languages through immersive narratives rather than grammar rules or memorization drills, enabling natural language acquisition similar to how children learn their native language.
• Spanish Uncovered A beginner Spanish language course built around a story narrative, featuring native Spanish audio, video lessons with a tutor, pronunciation training, speaking activities, and comprehension quizzes across 6 levels.
• French Uncovered A beginner French language course featuring 6 levels with native French audio, video grammar and vocabulary lessons, pronunciation training, and cultural content delivered through story immersion.
• Italian Uncovered A beginner Italian language course with 6 levels, featuring native Italian audio, structured video lessons, and speaking practice packs built around an engaging story narrative.
• German Uncovered A beginner German course with 6 levels using the StoryLearning method, including native audio, grammar instruction in context, and pronunciation training through native speakers.
• Japanese Uncovered A beginner Japanese language course with 6 levels featuring native Japanese audio, video lessons teaching grammar and vocabulary through story context, and pronunciation training.
• Chinese Uncovered (Mandarin) A beginner Chinese (Mandarin) course with 2 courses featuring native Chinese audio, video lessons on reading/writing Chinese characters, grammar, and culture through story-based learning.
• Korean Uncovered A beginner Korean language course featuring native Korean audio, video lessons, and pronunciation training delivered through an engaging story narrative.
• Russian Uncovered A beginner Russian language course with 3 levels, featuring native Russian audio, Cyrillic alphabet instruction, video grammar lessons, and pronunciation training through story immersion.
• Portuguese Uncovered A beginner Brazilian Portuguese course featuring native Portuguese audio, video lessons with tutor Sylvia, and pronunciation training built around the mystery story 'O Homem do Chapéu'.
• Turkish Uncovered A beginner Turkish language course with 2 levels featuring 20 chapters of native Turkish audio, video lessons on suffixes and grammar, pronunciation training, and cultural content through the story 'Gizemli Saat'.
• Arabic Uncovered A beginner Arabic course teaching Modern Standard Arabic plus 4 spoken dialects (Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Moroccan) with 20 chapters of native audio, script instruction, and video lessons through the story 'Al-Riḥla'.
• Latin Uncovered A beginner Latin course with 20 chapters featuring Classical Latin audio in restored pronunciation, video lessons with tutor Luke, grammar instruction on the case system, and cultural content through the story 'Vir Petasatus'.
• Danish Uncovered A beginner Danish course featuring 10 chapters with native Danish audio, 60+ video lessons with tutor Marie Louise Kragelund, pronunciation training, and pronunciation masterclass add-on.
• Norwegian Uncovered A beginner Norwegian course teaching Bokmål with 10 chapters of native audio, 60+ video lessons with tutor Snorre Karkkonen Svensson, and pronunciation training through the story 'På Sporet Av Forandring'.
• Swedish Uncovered A beginner Swedish course featuring 10 chapters with native Swedish audio, 60+ video lessons with tutor Cova Hedin, pronunciation training, and the story 'Ljudvågornas Första Spelning'.
• StoryLearning App Mobile application for accessing StoryLearning courses on-the-go with offline study capabilities, downloadable content, and progress tracking across devices.
• StoryLearning Books (Short Stories Series) Physical and digital books by Olly Richards, including the bestselling Short Stories series with over 2 million copies sold, designed for self-study language learning.
• Certificate of Online Language Teaching (CEOLT) A professional certification program for training individuals to become online language teachers, offered through the Certificate of Online Language Teaching (CEOLT) platform.
• StoryLearning Coaching Personal coaching services provided by Olly Richards and team, offering VIP calls and personalized language learning guidance.
• StoryLearning Uncovered All Courses Bundle Complete bundle offering access to all 54 StoryLearning Uncovered courses across 15 languages, 2000+ video lessons, pronunciation training, speaking activity packs, private community, and lifetime access with future updates.

Quantifiable outcome

• A2/B1 level achieved in 3 months (vs. 2.5 years with other courses)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Busuu: Busuu is a subscription-based language learning platform with structured courses and community feedback features. It serves the same individual self-study segment as StoryLearning and competes for the post-Duolingo learner who wants deeper course content.
• Memrise: Memrise is a vocabulary- and video-clip-driven language learning platform with a freemium model. It serves the same casual-to-intermediate learner persona as StoryLearning and competes on engagement and content variety.
• FluentU: FluentU teaches languages through authentic video content (movie clips, news, music) with interactive subtitles. It is directly comparable to StoryLearning in its use of immersive, real-world media as the core learning vehicle, targeting the same self-study consumer.
• Pimsleur: Pimsleur is an audio-based premium language learning program sold as one-time courses and subscriptions. It targets the same self-directed adult learner who is willing to pay for a structured methodology, positioning similarly to StoryLearning on premium and proprietary method.
• Lingoda: Lingoda provides live online group and private language classes with native speakers, often purchased in credit packages. It targets the same adult learner wanting conversational outcomes but delivers via live tutoring, complementing StoryLearning's self-paced course model.

Broad incumbents

• Babbel: Babbel is a subscription-based language learning platform focused on conversational proficiency for adult learners. It targets the same self-directed adult learner as StoryLearning but competes primarily on retention and habit, not on premium content depth.
• Duolingo: Duolingo is the dominant freemium language learning app with hundreds of millions of users and a gamified subscription model. It competes with StoryLearning for the same individual self-directed learner segment, though at a fundamentally different price point and engagement model.
• Rosetta Stone: Rosetta Stone is a long-standing premium language learning brand offering self-paced digital courses and live tutoring. It overlaps with StoryLearning in the self-study premium tier and the consumer-facing language learning category.

Emerging players

• italki: italki is a global marketplace connecting language learners with community tutors and professional teachers for 1:1 lessons. It competes with StoryLearning for the conversational-fluency use case, but via on-demand human tutors rather than self-study content.
• Preply: Preply is an online tutoring marketplace for language learning with subscription-based lesson packages. It overlaps with StoryLearning in serving adult self-directed learners but monetizes through 1:1 tutor sessions rather than digital courses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@olly_richards
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iwillteachyoualanguage
• Instagraminstagram.com/storylearning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about StoryLearning