Sylvi is a conversation-first language learning app helping people practise real dialogues.
Founded 2024
Invested 2025
In Sylvi's words
“People don’t learn languages by memorising random words, they learn by practicing real conversation. Born from personal frustration, Sylvi builds the skills and confidence required to hold real-world conversations, so you don’t freeze while ordering a coffee in Paris. From personalised lesson plans to chats with other learners or AI penpals, every feature has a conversation-first approach and is enhanced with AI-powered corrections and explanations.”In FIGR's words
“We were Sylvi consumers before we were investors, and Fiona (our MD) found the app to be a gamechanger for her own language learning. After getting to know the team, investing felt like a natural next step. Sylvi combines two sectors of interest for FIGR: consumer and education. We are thrilled to be backing this exciting startup to make high-quality, conversational language learning more accessible.”A conversation with Sylvi’s founders, Tom, Sam & Amy.
Please tell us what Sylvi does in one sentence.
Sylvi bridges the language learning gap that everyone faces, between learning vocab and speaking to natives.
What inspired you to start Sylvi?
I (Tom) watched my girlfriend Amy freeze when trying to order a coffee in Paris, despite her 600-day Duolingo streak. That moment made me realise traditional language apps teach vocab, not conversation. So I built her a tool using conversational AI as a side project, and when we saw how much she improved, I knew we were onto something.
What is your big vision?
We want to transform the way people learn languages, across both institutions and the consumer market. We want Sylvi to be where people go when they're serious about conversational practice - not just studying, but actually speaking.
We're building a global community of confident language learners who learn together and hold each other accountable. Ultimately, we want to change how languages are taught so that confidence and conversation come first, not last.
What has been your greatest achievement since starting Sylvi?
Adding subscriptions to the App Store and seeing people actually pay for it. I built the tech from scratch and taught myself everything along the way, so when actual users, beyond just friends and family who might give biased feedback, started subscribing, that was huge validation. There's no better feeling than knowing strangers are willing to pay for something you've created because it actually helps them.
What has been the biggest challenge since starting Sylvi?
Not getting distracted from our core focus. With a small team, it's so easy to spread yourself too thin when exciting opportunities come up - and they do constantly. UK schools and universities, US community colleges, white labelling for corporate partnerships - everyone sees the potential. But D2C is our bread and butter, so that’s our focus right now, and we’ll expand into new markets when the time is right.
How will this new funding help Sylvi to grow?
It will allow us to make some key hires! First, on the technical front, so we can roll out new features faster such as additional languages. Second, on the brand side, so we can scale customer acquisition through strategic partnerships and out-of-home campaigns.
How have you found working with FIGR so far?
It’s been great! They jumped in early with actionable feedback on our pitch deck that really helped us nail our story. Since then, they've been a brilliant sounding board and are always willing to make introductions. Looking forward to the relationship ahead!