Investment and financial services group Fidelity led a $100m series E round yesterday for MasterClass, a US-based online education provider backed by corporates Bloomberg, Novel and William Morris Endeavor.
Owl Ventures, 01 Advisors, IVP, Atomico, NextEquity Partners and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) also took part in the round, which valued the company at more than $800m according to TechCrunch.
MasterClass has built an online education portal where well-known experts and celebrities, such as author Neil Gaiman, actors Natalie Portman and Samuel L. Jackson, tennis champion Serena Williams and chef Gordon Ramsay, teach their craft through video tutorials.
Users also gain access to workbooks and offline lessons, and can join a community of fellow students. Celebrities are under no contractual obligation to interact with students but are free to do so if they choose.
The series E financing will help MasterClass improve the experience of its subscribers, expand internationally, develop more products, hire additional staff and sign up more instructors. It has produced more than 85 classes to date and raised more than $236m in funding.
The company received $80m in series D funding from Evolution Media, a fund established by talent agency Creative Artists Agency and private equity group TPG, in addition to IVP, Atomico, NEA, Javelin Venture Partners and Advancit Capital, in September 2018.
IVP led a $35m series C round for Masterclass in 2017 that included Novel TMT and Bloomberg Beta – investment vehicles formed by telecommunications firm Novel and media group Bloomberg – as well as NEA, Javelin Venture Partners, Advancit, GSV Acceleration and several individuals.
Bloomberg Beta and Novel TMT previously contributed to the company’s $15m series B round the previous year, together with talent agency William Morris Endeavor subsidiary WME Ventures, NEA, Advancit, Downey Ventures and assorted private investors. Javelin Venture Partners and Harrison Metal were earlier backers.
