[Funding Alert] Online Learning Platform Udemy Raises $50 Mln At $2 Bln Valuation The company plans to further invest in markets around the world and said it will expand its San Francisco headquarters as well as grow its offices across several other locations.

Udemy, a global marketplace for online teaching and learning, has raised $50 million from its long-time partner in Japan, Benesse Holdings. The investment values the company at $2 billion.

Founded in 2009, the San Francisco, California-based company claims to be helping millions of students learn new skills from 57,000 expert instructors teaching over 150,000 online courses across a range of topics such as programming, data science leadership and team building.

"Benesse is an important strategic partner for Udemy, and this investment is a testament to the strength of our relationship and the opportunity ahead of us," Udemy chief executive officer Gregg Coccari, said in a statement.

The company plans to further invest in markets around the world and said it will expand its San Francisco headquarters as well as grow its offices across several other locations.

Follows Considerable Growth

Udemy said the funding round followed a year of considerable growth globally.

In January, the company celebrated its ten-year anniversary and marked over $350 million in lifetime payments to instructors on the platform.

Last year, Udemy grew its subscription-based corporate learning product internationally with a fully localized product experience as well as new courses in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, from local teachers. It also introduced "Learning Paths', enabling organizations to build personalized learning experiences to achieve specific outcomes, such as employee onboarding and career development.

"2020 will be a milestone year where we serve millions more students and enable thousands of businesses and governments to upskill their employees," Coccari said.

Udemy for Business crossed 5,000 corporate customers globally in 2019. Some of the corporations using Udemy for Business include Adidas, Pinterest, Toyota, and Wipro.

From Benesse, chief executive officer Tamotsu Adachi, said, ""Udemy and Benesse are incredibly synergistic businesses. This investment is the next progression in our business relationship and demonstrates our confidence in what we can accomplish together."