Ukrainian-based edtech company Preply has bought back its employees’ shares for the first time thanks to a stock buyback program introduced this year, allowing the team to benefit from the company’s growth even before its IPO.
Ukrainian-based edtech company Preply has bought back its employees’ shares for the first time thanks to a stock buyback program introduced this year, allowing the team to benefit from the company’s growth even before its IPO.
“I am excited to share an important milestone in Preply’s history: we have just completed our first employee share buyback program at a company valuation of $1.2 billion. This gave all eligible team members the opportunity to receive liquidity early — in recognition of the significant contributions they have made to the company’s development over the years,” wrote Preply CEO and co-founder Kyrylo Bigay on LinkedIn.
Company stock is a significant part of Preply’s compensation, making every employee a co-owner of the business. Typically, such assets can only be converted into cash after a company is sold or goes public (IPO), which can take years, the company explains in a blog post.
So Preply decided to change this approach and implemented a share buyback program. Now, eligible employees can sell some of their shares now, receiving real profits from the company's growth, without waiting for an official listing on the stock market.
Recall that in January 2026, Preply became a new Ukrainian unicorn with a valuation of $1.2 billion.
The company was founded in 2012 by Ukrainians Kyrylo Bigay, Serhiy Lukyanov, and Dmytro Voloshyn. Preply uses AI to connect over 100,000 teachers and students from 180 countries. Of Preply's 750 employees, approximately 150 people work in the Kyiv office.
