There are no two forces more powerful in shaping our world than the stories we tell and the language we use to tell them.
We believe it’s time for a new kind of story—one that is deeply personal yet stretches us beyond the limitations of our lived reality. Stories that immerse and connect us to languages and cultures outside our own.
Language isn’t only a tool for communication—it’s an instrument of culture and self-expression. When we learn a new language, we learn to see a bigger world.
But the way we learn languages is broken.
We don’t learn to speak through vocabulary drills, conjugation lists, or gamified streaks. We learn by living it—by hearing, seeing, and using it as a vessel for authentic connection. Yet most language learning resources treat it like a puzzle to solve rather than an experience to absorb, forcing learners into rigid curriculums and generic, one-size-fits-all topics.
We’re at the edge of a technological shift with the potential to fundamentally change this. For the first time, we can bend learning to the individual—molding to each person’s interests, motivations, and fluency level.
Pendulum is recreating how we learn through living language experiences grounded in native culture—ever evolving worlds shaped by open narratives and curiosity. A practice we return to, not out of obligation, but because it offers something deeper—a moment of progression and expansion.
Our mission is to open access to global culture through shared language.
We’re a small team born out of the South Park Commons Founder Fellowship, backed by Shine Capital. We’ve built AI products from scratch at Spotify, led Product and Strategy teams at Google, and conducted research at Oxford and Imperial College on generative media and natural language processing. We’ve felt the magic in seeing the world in a new language and the dissatisfaction with the available tools to learn them.
We’re currently hiring for a few select roles in research, engineering and design. If our mission resonates with you, we’d love to learn about your story. Reach out to us on founders@pndlm.xyz
