SEATTLE, WA – (Marketwire – Jan 11, 2012) – Livemocha, the world’s largest online language learning service, today announced the Livemocha Scholarship Program, which offers free and discounted foreign language services to high schools and community colleges across the nation. Livemocha aspires to create a world in which every person is fluent in multiple languages and to help support this mission will donate approximately five million dollars of language learning to U.S. schools in 2012. Schools can now apply for the needs-based Livemocha 2012 Scholarship Program offering discounts and free language learning solutions.

In the United States today, less than 40% of high school students and 8% of college students are enrolled in the study of a foreign language. According…  read more

One Seattle-area company is more than a little happy about Amazon Web Services opening a new South American computing region: Livemocha, an online language-learning service that counts about a quarter of its more than 11 million members in Brazil alone.

Livemocha runs its Web-based software on AWS, but previously, the closest region for South American markets was still in the U.S. And that meant a distinct difference in quality. The more static elements of the site, like logos and other images, were hosted locally. But the main Web experience—the core of Livemocha’s product—had to make too many hops to get to the end user.

“When I’m in Brazil and I’m using Livemocha, it’s kind of painful in comparison to what it’s…  read more

Livemocha CEO Michael Schutzler hasn’t been shy about taking some shots at rival Rosetta Stone over the years. Last year, for example, the Seattle Internet executive declared that Rosetta Stone would have a “long mountain to climb” in order to compete with Livemocha in online language learning.

But there’s one spot where Rosetta Stone has always held an advantage: Retail. The company’s yellow-boxed CD-ROM titles are ubiquitous at retail locations in malls and airports.

But Livemocha, which has raised about $14 million from August Capital and Maveron, is now looking to toss some stones of its own into that territory.

Through a partnership with Harper Collins and Merriam Webster, Livemocha has begun selling language learning course books at Barnes & Noble and…  read more

SEATTLE – November 2, 2011 – Livemocha™, the world’s largest online language learning community, today announced that CEO Michael Schutzler, will deliver a keynote presentation at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network Breakfast Buzz Event. The session: A Gazillion Registered Members… Now What? takes place Friday, November 4 at 7:45 a.m. at TechDwellers in Georgetown.

A Gazillion Registered Members… Now What?

When: Friday, November 4 at 7:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. (PST)

Where: TechDwellers Georgetown
6100 4th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98108

Cost: $15 for members and $30 for non-members

Description
You have a gazillion members… but revenue, not so much. So what’s the plan? What’s the strategy? How do you make money? Many have tried and few have succeeded. In this session, Michael Schutzler will discuss best practices…  read more

Schutzler to discuss “The importance and Innovation of Virtual Language Learning in the Workplace”

SEATTLE – October 25, 2011 – Livemocha™, the world’s largest online language learning community, today announced that CEO Michael Schutzler, will speak at the Seattle Interactive Conference, an inaugural event that will bring together the tech industry’s brightest leaders being held November 2-3 at the Washington State Convention Center.

In line with the conference theme of “transformations in interactive technology,” Schutzler will offer his insight on the growing necessity of language acquisition in the corporate context, specifically highlighting the benefits of virtual learning communities.

The Importance of Language Learning in a Global Economy

When: Thurs., November 3 at 2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. PT

Where: Washington State Convention Center
800 Convention…  read more

São Paulo – September 7, 2011– Abril Educação (BM&F Bovespa: ABRE11), one of the largest and most respected education companies in Brazil, and Livemocha™, the world’s largest language learning community, announced a partnership in which Abril Educação becomes the exclusive representative of Livemocha in Brazil. This partnership combines Livemocha’s powerful social language learning methodology with Abril Educação’s expert skill in serving the existing education marketplace in Brazil. The two companies will work together to deliver affordable and engaging language learning to the sizeable Brazilian market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abril Educação – a BM&FBovespa-listed company and controlled by Grupo Abril, one of the largest and most influential media corporations in Latin America – will promote Livemocha to consumers…  read more

Geekwire, July 14 2011 — Livemocha’s online community of language learners continues to spread worldwide. And now the four-year-old company — founded by former Microsoftie Shirish Nadkarni and led by CEO Michael Schutzler — has received some additional rocket fuel to propel the rival to Rosetta Stone forward. LiveMocha has landed an additional $5 million, money which comes on top of $14 million raised from previous backers Maveron and August Capital.

It was unclear whether any new investors participated in the deal, and Schutzler couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

But we caught up with the former Classmates CEO and RealNetworks exec late last month after Livemocha surpassed the 10 million member milestone.

We’d been meaning to feature Livemocha in our Startup Spotlight…  read more

SEATTLE – June 1, 2011 – Livemocha™, the world’s largest online language learning community, today announced the company was chosen by OneAmerica, the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Washington State, as a key partner for the Innovations in English Language Learning Project. Using Livemocha’s ActiveEnglish™ course, OneAmerica embarks on a program to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and test how students engage, learn and persist when learning through a technology and community based approach.

With nearly 10 million members from 195 countries, Livemocha was chosen for this project based on the company’s global community of language learners who teach and learn from each other in a fun and engaging environment. ActiveEnglish promises English language mastery by providing world-class…  read more

TechFlash Venture Blog, July 14, 2011 — LiveMocha Inc., which bills itself as the world’s largest online language learning community, has raised $5 million, according to regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A spokeswoman for the Bellevue startup said the company was not prepared to elaborate on details of the new funds, saying the company did not want to jeopardize something larger in the works that should be finalized in the coming weeks.

The company also declined to say if the investment funds included backing from previous investors.

LiveMocha offers online language courses that include videos and opportunities to chat with native speakers. LiveMocha competes with online language service Rosetta Stone and offers a service for $150, well below Rosetta…  read more

SEATTLE– June 27, 2011 – Livemocha™, the world’s largest language learning community, today announced the launch of the Livemocha Library Subscription, providing unlimited local and remote access to language courses in 38 languages, and opportunities to interact with 10 million native speakers around the globe.

Libraries across the United States have opened their doors to Livemocha Library Subscriptions. As education funding continues to be cut in public schools, foreign language programs often fall victim to budget deficits. Livemocha along with an increasing number of library partners are committed to providing access to world-class content inside the library and beyond. Only Livemocha can provide libraries entrée into a vast community of language learning and shared culture in an online social environment.

“Livemocha…  read more