Benesse has injected $50m into Udemy at a $2bn valuation, boosting the skills-building platform's overall funding to more than $220m.
US-based online education marketplace Udemy received $50m in funding from distance learning, senior nursing and childcare services provider Benesse yesterday at a $2bn valuation.
Udemy runs an online marketplace where some 57,000 instructors teach more than 150,000 courses covering a wide range of topics from data science to team building.
The company also operates an enterprise platform called Udemy for Business that focuses on employee training and development. Clients can host their own materials and give staff access to an existing catalogue of external courses.
The Benesse investment will be used by Udemy to drive international growth. It intends to expand its headquarters in San Francisco as well as a second US office in the state of Colorado while strengthening international locations in Ireland, India, Brazil and Turkey.
Tamotsu Adachi, president and CEO of Benesse, will represent the company on Udemy’s board of directors. He said: “Access to the latest…
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).
