--- --- Apr 26, 2021 # Duolingo Schooling users by [Kathy Ehrich Dowd](https://time.com/author/kathy-dowd/) ## Kathy Ehrich Dowd  Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo Luis von Ahn, CEO of DuolingoNina Roberts Since launching in 2011, [Duolingo](https://time.com/collection-post/5412500/duolingo/)—the app that teaches users how to speak everything from Swahili to High Valyrian—has been downloaded more than 500 million times. Last year, with so many kids stuck at home, it accelerated the release of an app that gamifies learning to read and write for children ages 3 to 7\. It also saw a 2,000% uptick in the use of its online English-proficiency test, allowing more international students to apply to U.S. colleges that have traditionally required an in-person exam. Duolingo Is One of the 2021 TIME100 Most Influential Companies ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953605/duolingo-innovators/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953605/duolingo-innovators/"},"headline":"Duolingo","datePublished":"2021-04-26T18:43:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T02:25:48.942Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953605/duolingo-innovators/","keywords":["Lists","franchise","TIME100 Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529cdff584e9cdb6/698a18e1e76ad226c1638cbe/duolingo-time100-companies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathy Ehrich Dowd","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kathy-dowd/"}],"creator":"Kathy Ehrich Dowd","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529cdff584e9cdb6/698a18e1e76ad226c1638cbe/duolingo-time100-companies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953605/duolingo-innovators/","name":"Duolingo"}}]}] ```