MOOC Provider Udemy in Advanced Talks to Raise ~ $100 Mn at Over $3 Bn Valuation

US-based e-learning platform Udemy is in advanced talks to raise around $100 million in a new private funding round that will value the online learning platform at over $3 billion, said a report by The Hindu (Reuters).

In February this year, Udemy raised $50 million in a Series E round led by Japanese publisher Benesse Holdings at a valuation of $2 billion.

Recently in last week, Udemy announced that its corporate learning solution, Udemy for Business, has surpassed $100 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) milestone in 5 years. 

Udemy, which is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) provider has seen a boost in subscriptions this year as more people have stayed at home and opted for online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Udemy has its headquarter in San Francisco, US with one of the offices in Gurugram of India.

Edtech companies have seen faster and wider adoptions as more people switch to remote learning due to restrictions during the pandemic. Private funding in the sector has surpassed 2019 levels, with over $4.8 billion raised by August 2020, according to CB Insights.

India's BYJU'S, which is the world's most valued edtech company, was valued at $11.1 billion in September this year.

Founded in May 2010, by Eren Bali, Indian-American Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar, Udemy is part of the growing MOOC movement available outside the traditional university system, and is known for the variety of courses offered. As of Jan 2020, the platform has more than 35 million students and 57,000 instructors teaching courses in over 65 languages.