Udemy, an online learning and teaching marketplace has has secured $50 MN investment from the organization’s long-time partner, Benesse Holdings, Inc. which is a Japanese company. With this recent funding, Udemy’s valuation has exceeded $2 Bn. 

This is a big jump since the startup last raised money, a $60 million round in 2016 that valued it at around $710 million (according to PitchBook data). With this round, Udemy has raised around $200 million in funding, with other investors including Stripes, Naspers (now Prosus), Learn Capital, Insight Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and a number of others.

On acquiring investment, Gregg Coccari, CEO, Udemy, shares, “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.”

Tamotsu Adachi, Representative Director, President and CEO, Benesse Holdings Inc. shares, “Access to the latest workplace skills is crucial for success everywhere, including Japan; and Udemy is the world’s largest workplace enabling professional transformation. With this partnership, we envision a world where more people can continue to learn continuously throughout their lives.”

With this new set of investment, the company plans to further invest in markets around the world and will expand its San Francisco headquarters as well as grow its offices in Denver, Colorado; Dublin, Ireland; Gurgaon, India; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Ankara, Turkey.

Looking at Udemy’s growth trajectory, last year, Udemy for Business reached the milestone of serving over 5,000 corporate customers globally. Udemy’s for Business clientele includes Adidas, Booking.com, Pinterest, Toyota, and Wipro, among others.

Udemy is an online learning platform aimed at professional adults and students, developed in May 2010. As of January 2020, the platform has more than 50 million students and 57,000 instructors teaching courses in over 65 languages. There have been over 295 million course enrollments.