AAA Naspers tutors Udemy for $60m

Naspers tutors Udemy for $60m

US-based online education marketplace Udemy raised $60m yesterday from Naspers Ventures, the corporate venturing division of media company Naspers, as part of a strategic partnership.

The money is a follow-on investment to Udemy’s series D round, which achieved a $65m first close in June 2015 following commitments from Norwest Venture Partners, the VC firm backed by financial services firm Wells Fargo.

Growth equity firm Stripes Group led the initial series D round, while VC firm Insight Venture Partners (IVP) also took part.

Founded in 2010, Udemy operates an online education marketplace that offers more than 40,000 on-demand academic and skills-based courses from 20,000 teachers across the world. The company claims to serve more than 11 million students from 190 countries.

Naspers will assist Udemy with a strengthening of its position in international markets, giving the company access to its local expertise in 130 countries. Larry Illg, chief executive of Naspers Ventures, will join Udemy’s board of directors.

Udemy has now received a total of $173m in funding. Norwest previously backed a $32m series C round in 2014. Existing backers also include Lightbank, MHS Capital, Learn Capital, 500 Startups, Stripes Group and Signia Venture Partners.

Illg said: “Naspers is consistently looking to invest in markets where technology can make a significant impact. Udemy has built a technology platform that will transform education on a global scale and we are eager to help them with further expansion.

“Their online learning marketplace offers courses on thousands of topics in dozens of languages and makes education for anyone, anywhere more accessible.”

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