Simplilearn Raises USD 45 million Led by GSV Ventures

Simplilearn has announced its fresh round of fundraising from a consortium led by GSV Ventures, a multi-stage venture capital firm. In addition to GSV Ventures, Clal Insurance,  and DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, are also participating in this round. The current investment brings in USD 45 mm into the company, further boosting its growth across the globe. This round of funding comes at a time when the technology funding ecosystem and the ed-tech market, in general, are witnessing volatility. The ed-tech major has seen significant growth in the past year and has added more than 1,20,000 paid B2C learners, and 1,00,000+ enterprise learners on its platform. This is in addition to the 2 million+  free learners that it adds to its Skill-Up platform every year.

As a homegrown, global edtech company, Simplilearn continues to play an instrumental role in bridging the persistent digital skills gap across the globe. It offers digital skilling programs for professionals, enabling learners to upskill and get certified in fast-growing digital domains. Simplilearn creates these programs in collaboration with renowned educational institutions such as Caltech CTME, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, UMass Amherst and the Isenberg School of Management, Purdue University, Wharton Online, IIT Roorkee, and IIT Kanpur, and companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and KPMG.

Post the Blackstone investment in August 2021, Simplilearn has strategically deployed funds enabling exponential yet mindful growth over the past year. Speaking on this round of funding, Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO, of Simplilearn, said, “We continue to witness the accelerated need for digitally skilled workforce across industries and Simplilearn continues to be focused on bridging the digital skill gap. Continuing on our path of mindful growth, we are grateful for how far the company has come today. The Blackstone investment last year came at an ideal time to boost our growth globally, and further strengthen our customer-centric approach. Today, we are excited to partner with GSV Ventures, a globally recognized investor with a strong track record in the education sector, along with a strong set of co-investors in Clal Insurance and DisruptAD. This funding came at a time when the industry is going through turmoil and stands as a testimony to our steady, profitable growth.”

He added, “We believe GSV Ventures, Clal Insurance, and DisruptAD will bring value to our company given their experience, scale, and global network which will further enhance our efforts towards growing Simplilearn and sustaining our leadership, globally. We also thank our existing investor, Blackstone, for their resolute support and trust in our journey of becoming a market leader.”

Deborah H. Quazzo, Managing Partner, GSV Ventures said, “With immense experience investing and working with education firms around the world, it is certain that the demand for knowledge-gain and upskilling is omnipresent. Like many other sectors, technology is disrupting education, and ed-tech has been a key focus area for us. Simplilearn is a unique player in the digital skilling space with premium content and partnerships with various marquee universities and enterprises. Given the company’s promising growth trajectory over the past years, we are excited to partner with Blackstone, Krishna Kumar and Simplilearn to accelerate growth and contribute to building one of the world’s leading digital upskilling companies. We look forward to a promising future of continued customer-centricity, enabling professionals across the globe to become highly skilled in the digital economy.”

Avendus continues to be an exclusive financial advisor to Simplilearn and its shareholders on the transaction.