Coursera, a US-based online education provider backed by recruitment firm Seek Group, higher education provider Laureate Education and media group Bennett, Coleman & Co’s digital services arm Times Internet, has filed for a $100m IPO.
Spun out of Stanford University in 2012, Coursera offers free and premium online classes from a broad range of subject matters. Users can also pursue full-fledged university degrees.
The company has not yet determined for what specific purposes it will use proceeds.
Coursera has raised some $443m in funding to date. Seek contributed to a $130m series F round in July 2020 that was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and also featured Kleiner Perkins, Learn Capital, SuRo Capital Corp and G Squared.
Seek already led a $103m series E round in 2019, when NEA and Australian sovereign wealth fund Future Fund also invested.
Coursera previously obtained $64m in a series D round in 2017 that was backed by NEA, Kleiner Perkins predecessor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), GSV Asset Management, Learn Capital and Lampert Foundation.
NEA led Coursera’s $61.1m series C round in 2015, when Times Internet, KPCB, Learn Capital, GSV, the Singaporean state-owned EDBI and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) also provided capital.
Laureate Education participated in a $63m series B round in 2013 together with University of Pennsylvania, California Institute of Technology, NEA, GSV Asset Management, KPCB, Learn Capital, IFC, Yuri Milner and three undisclosed university investors.
NEA is the largest shareholder ahead of the IPO, with an 18.3% stake. G Squared owns 15.9%, while KPBC holds 9.2% and Future Fund has 7.9%.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets, UBS Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Associates, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Truist Securities, William Blair & Company, DA Davidson & Co, Needham & Company, Loop Capital Markets and Telsey Advisory Group are serving as underwriters for the proposed offering.
