MasterClass, the US-based online education platform backed by media group Bloomberg and telecommunications firm Novel Group, is set to raise about $70m at a valuation of more than $300m, Axios reported yesterday.
The series D round is expected to be insider-led, according to Axios, and would push the company’s overall funding to approximately $126m since it was founded in 2015.
MasterClass allows subscribers to access online video-based educational classes created and hosted by specialists, often celebrities. The classes include interactive assignments and a downloadable PDF workbook, and receive feedback from other students in their groups.
The company’s current lineup includes filmmakers Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, chef Gordon Ramsey, sports professionals Serena Williams and Stephen Curry, performer Christina Aguilera, chess champion Garry Kasparaov and writers James Patterson and Judy Blume.
Venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners led the company’s last round, a $35m series C in March 2017 that included Bloomberg and Novel’s corporate venturing subsidiaries, Bloomberg Beta and Novel TMT.
GSV Acceleration, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Javelin Venture Partners, Advancit Capital and individual investors Yan-David Erlich, Sam Lessin and Matthew Rutler also took part in the series C round.
Bloomberg Beta and Novel TMT had previously contributed to a $15m series B round for Masterclass in early 2016. NEA led the round, which also featured alent agency William Morris Endeavor’s WME Ventures unit, Advancit Capital, Downey Ventures and assorted private investors.