[Funding] Udemy Raises $50 Million to Fuel Accelerated Global Demand for Online Learning

Udemy is one of the largest global marketplaces for learning and teaching online. The company on Friday announced the raising of $50 million. This comes at a $3.25 billion pre-money valuation in a Series F financing. Further, the funds will enable the company to continue to grow its consumer and business product offerings. With this, they also aim to serve the world’s learners, organizations, and instructors.

“To succeed in today’s rapidly changing world requires new skills and a focus on continuous learning,” said Gregg Coccari, CEO of Udemy. “This year upended everything about how we live and work, and people everywhere turned to online learning to help them meet new challenges. We’re perfectly positioned to meet these demands and help drive success for individuals, businesses, and governments.”

Traditional education was built for a world that no longer exists. “Built for the real world and enlisting the world’s most motivated experts to share their knowledge; Udemy has created an engine that propels individuals and businesses to succeed,” said Rob Hutter, Managing Partner at Learn Capital. “Our latest investment underscores our continued confidence in the company. We believe Udemy has the right platform and also the business architecture to dramatically extend its growth as individuals. Companies also recognize the power of lifelong learning to drive personal and corporate performance.”

With the pandemic, the future of work dramatically accelerated.

Businesses underwent massive shifts in business operations overnight. Individuals and companies around the world also turned to learn to help navigate a new world of dispersed workforces, constant change, and uncertain economic conditions. As countries enacted stay-at-home advisories and national closures; course enrolments across the entire Udemy marketplace platform increased more than 425%; consumption across Udemy for Business surged 90%; the company saw a 55% increase in course creation by instructors. To date, the company has seen over 400 million course enrolments globally.

Udemy for Business aims to build the future of work and serve the next generation of workplace learners. With subscription access to a collection of 7,000 relevant courses on the most in-demand skills, customers can upskill their workforces and also harness learning to drive business performance. In October, the company announced that Udemy for Business has surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Its notable customers include The Walt Disney Corporation, Apple, UNICEF, PayPal, Accenture, Samsung, Unilever, Instacart, Survey Monkey, Okta, and others. Last year, IDC found that for every dollar spent on Udemy for Business, organizations could realize an 869% return on investment in three years.

Further, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC. served as sole placement agent in this round.