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Ukrainian Edtech Promova Expands into Brazil as Key Growth Market with 1M+ Users

“English is not a privilege”—Promova bets big on democratizing language learning in Latin America’s largest economy.

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Ukrainian edtech startup Promova is ramping up its expansion into Brazil, aiming to make the country its second-largest market globally. Founded in 2019, the platform already boasts more than 1 million users in Brazil, and its CEO says the goal is to quadruple that number within the year.

With personalized, AI-powered tools designed to teach English through TV shows, movies, business contexts, and more, Promova hopes to make learning both accessible and contextual.

“We use AI heavily, but as a tool — our focus is on real, human-centered learning,” said Andrew Skrypnyk, CEO and founder of Promova.

Why Brazil?

Brazil’s population of over 212 million, high internet penetration (86%), and historically low English proficiency make it fertile ground for language learning platforms. According to the EF English Proficiency Index, Brazil ranks 86th out of 116 countries, falling behind regional peers like Argentina and Uruguay.

“When we studied the Brazilian market, we realized speaking English was still a privilege — accessible mostly to the upper class,” said Skrypnyk. “That’s something we experienced in Ukraine, too. We want to change that.”

Interestingly, the company name Promova means “promotion” or “growth” in Portuguese, aligning seamlessly with its mission to foster personal and professional advancement through language education.

Local Hiring and a Physical Presence

Since early 2024, Promova has been hiring Brazilian talent and is now considering opening a physical office in São Paulo or another startup hub. The company’s 200-person team is currently distributed across Europe and Ukraine, with Brazil being its first major footprint in Latin America.

The expansion is being funded through founder capital rather than VC backing — at least for now. However, Skrypnyk confirms that talks are ongoing with Brazilian VCs to raise the company’s first institutional funding round.

A Unicorn Mindset—Without the Burn

Unlike many growth-at-all-costs edtechs, Promova aims to be what its CEO calls a “true unicorn” — a profitable and sustainable company that scales responsibly in competitive markets like language learning.

“We want to be a global company. Profitability matters. We’re not just chasing user numbers—we’re building something that lasts,” said Skrypnyk.

Exporting Ukrainian Edtech

Promova is part of a rising wave of Ukrainian tech companies going global, alongside Grammarly, Preply, and Headway. Skrypnyk attributes this global reach to Ukraine’s high English fluency among tech professionals, many of whom began by working with Western clients.

“English was our gateway to the world. I see the same potential in Brazil,” he said. “Once people here improve their English, they’ll gain access to global knowledge, content, and opportunities to build businesses beyond borders.”

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Brazilian Startup Plinq Raises $250K in Seed Funding to Expand Background Check App for Women

Led by Spectra Investments, the funding will support Plinq’s mobile app and its move from individual searches to a subscription service.

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Brazilian startup Plinq has raised about $250,000 in its first funding round, led by Spectra Investments. Angel investors also participated, including Anton Osika, Liana Selles, Fernando Montera and José Gerardo Carrero. The dollar amount is an approximate conversion of the R$1.3 million round announced in August 2026.

Plinq helps women search publicly available judicial records when checking the background of a potential romantic partner. Founded in 2025 by CEO Sabrine Matos, the company plans to use the investment to develop its mobile app and expand its ten-person team.

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How Plinq’s Background Checks Work

Users enter a person’s name and phone number, and Plinq searches public sources, including court records and official publications, to compile a report. The company says its web platform attracted more than 60,000 users and processed nearly 85,000 searches during its first year.

Matos founded Plinq after learning of a femicide case in which the perpetrator had faced multiple domestic violence proceedings that the victim reportedly did not know about. The startup’s aim is to make existing public information easier to find and understand before a relationship begins.

Plinq says 10% of the risk alerts identified by its platform relate to domestic violence records. Those alerts reflect information found in public databases; a search result alone cannot establish a person’s current conduct or guarantee someone’s safety.

Mobile App and Subscription Plans

When the round was announced, Plinq said it planned to launch a women-only mobile app in early September 2026 and replace one-off web searches with a monthly subscription. The proposed app includes identity checks using facial recognition. The launch date was a company plan at the time of the funding announcement; the cited report does not confirm that the app has since launched.

Plinq aims to reach one million active users within six months of the app’s launch. For 2027, it has outlined further features, including a way for users to alert nearby women if they feel at risk during a date. It is also considering services for Brazilian women living abroad. These remain expansion targets rather than existing features or user figures.

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Brazil-Based AI Startup Nuvia Raises $1.8M to Expand AI Sales Agents Across Latin America

Amador Capital and Nascent led the round, which will support product development and commercial growth.

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Brazilian startup Nuvia has raised $1.8 million in a funding round led by Amador Capital and Nascent. Existing investor NXTP participated alongside Crivo Ventures, Delusional Capital and investors brought together through Spectra Investimentos. Nuvia plans to use the capital to develop its platform, strengthen its team and expand in Brazil and other Latin American markets.

Nuvia develops AI agents for sales and customer service. Its platform brings conversations from WhatsApp, Instagram, voice calls, websites and email into one system and connects them with customer relationship management tools. The aim is to help businesses respond to enquiries, qualify prospective customers and carry conversations through more complex sales processes.

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Building a presence beyond Brazil

Nuvia is focusing on markets where companies handle large volumes of customer conversations, particularly through WhatsApp. Most of its customers are currently in Brazil, but the company also serves clients in Mexico, Colombia and the Iberian Peninsula. The new funding will help it grow its sales and marketing operations as it pursues a wider Latin American customer base.

The startup says its agents can support tasks that extend beyond answering routine questions. In one example cited by the company, retailer Chocolat Du Jour handled approximately 25,000 customer interactions during an eight-day Easter period, with AI agents managing 91% of the conversations. These figures describe that customer’s reported use of the platform, rather than a result Nuvia has demonstrated for every deployment.

Founded in 2024, Nuvia is led by CEO John Paz, a former Brazil general manager at fintech Pomelo. The latest round follows an earlier raise of about $1.7 million, bringing its disclosed funding to approximately $3.5 million. Reports differ on the date of that earlier round, so the total is more useful here than assigning it a specific month.

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Brazil-Based EdTech Startup Premia Raises $975K to Expand AI-Powered Learning Platform and Pursue Acquisitions

The company’s first external investment has been followed by its acquisition of Aulapp, extending its reach into corporate education.

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Brazilian education technology company Premia has raised approximately $980,000 in its first external funding round from an undisclosed family office with interests in education. The investment will support product development, hiring and acquisitions as the company expands beyond its existing school and higher education business.

Premia previously funded its operations without outside investment. Its platform uses AI to assess students’ progress, identify learning gaps and help educators tailor their support.

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AI Tools for Schools and Universities

Premia says its platform uses 18 proprietary AI models designed for educational tasks. The technology analyses how students interact with learning materials and provides information that teachers and institutions can use to guide instruction.

According to the company, its products have reached 3.8 million users across 400 Brazilian municipalities and have been used by more than 4,500 teachers. Premia has also reported improvements in student performance, although the figures provided do not establish how much of that improvement can be attributed to the platform alone.

Acquisition Opens Corporate Education Market

Premia said it would use part of the investment to acquire businesses that add products or customers to its platform. It has since acquired Aulapp, an education business serving schools and companies. The value of that transaction was not disclosed. The acquisition makes Premia’s planned move into corporate education a current part of its expansion, rather than only a future objective.

The company also plans to strengthen its commercial and technology teams. Over the next two years, it aims to reach more than 20 million users, expand to 1,500 municipalities and support over 40,000 teachers. Those are company targets, not current operating figures.

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