Pingo

Pingo AI (also referred to simply as Pingo) develops a mobile language-learning application built around spoken conversation with an AI tutor. Instead of vocabulary drills or gamified lesson sequences, the app puts learners into simulated real-life exchanges — such as ordering food, booking a hotel or making small talk — with an AI voice that is described as sounding like a native speaker. The system adapts to the learner's proficiency level, provides real-time corrections, remembers prior progress and delivers personalized lessons.

The product covers a broad set of languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Turkish, Polish and Vietnamese, and offers scenario-based practice organized around contexts such as travel, work and social interaction. A paid tier, Pingo AI Unlimited, provides access to more than 200 scenarios and customizable lessons. The app is distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play and is also reachable via the mypingoai.com site.

The company was founded in 2025 and participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch, with Brad Flora as primary partner. Y Combinator lists its location as San Francisco and a team size of five; a separate asset profile lists an incorporated entity, Pingo AI, Inc., established in 2025 and based in Chicago, Illinois, classified under education/training with artificial intelligence, edtech and mobile app verticals.

Founding story

Co-founders Michael Xing and Morrie Schonfeld were freshman-year roommates who practiced Chinese together weekly — Xing is fluent, while Schonfeld had been learning the language for roughly eight years. Observing that conversational immersion worked well but that most learners lack a practice partner, they built an AI partner instead. Xing serves as CEO and had previously built consumer products used by hundreds of thousands of users; Schonfeld is COO, a published Chinese author, and leads growth.

Business model

Consumer subscription software. Users buy access to the AI tutor directly, with a tiered structure offering monthly and yearly plans; the Pingo AI Unlimited tier bundles full access to over 200 conversation scenarios and customizable lessons. Distribution runs through mobile app stores.

Subscription revenue collected directly from individual consumers, priced on monthly and annual tiers, with an unlimited-access plan as the flagship offering.

Traction

Reported milestones: launch in January 2025; roughly 50,000 users and $25,000 MRR by March 2025; more than 300,000 users and $200,000 MRR as of July 2025, with roughly 100% average month-over-month growth (200% in the most recent month at that time); over 3 million users and about $500,000 MRR by April 2026. Cumulative social video views were reported at more than one billion.

Latest developments

A $100,000 seed investment was reported in March 2026. Coverage in May 2026 described the company passing three million users and approximately $500,000 in monthly recurring revenue as of April 2026, roughly 14 months after launch.