Coursera raises $103M in Series E funding led by SEEK Group

Online education platform Coursera has raised Series E funding of $103 million. The round was led by SEEK Group, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:SEK). It is a firm known for investing and scaling online education and employment businesses. Existing investors Future Fund, and New Enterprises Associates (NEA) also participated in this round of funding.  

On the funding, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera, said in a statement, "The additional funding gives us the resources and flexibility to further expand internationally and to accelerate the development of a learning platform that currently serves 40 million learners, 1,800 businesses, and over 150 top universities."

The global edtech platform had last raised its Series D funding. Since then, the team claims to have a base of 40 million, and over 3,200 courses and 310 specialisations on the platform. The idea is to enable learners acquire new skills and credentials that help in their careers.

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The team adds that the platform's portfolio of degrees has also increased to over 14 degrees from the top universities in data science, business administration, public health, and computer science.

On the investment, SEEK Co-founder and CEO Andrew Bassat stated, “This investment reflects our commitment to online education, which is enabling the up-skilling and re-skilling of people and is aligned to our purpose of helping people live fulfilling working lives. We have been watching Coursera for many years; they have a great team of people doing terrific work. We are pleased to come on board to partner with them in their next phase of growth.” 

Jeff said that the fourth industrial revolution has brought in advancement in AI and automation, which in turn, is reshaping jobs and businesses. Therefore, Coursera is helping companies, individuals and even governments prepare and skill themselves for new jobs and opportunities.

In January, Coursera, along with Johns Hopkins, University of Michigan, and Columbia University, announced the launch of a health content vertical. There also is Coursera's enterprise offering - Coursera for Business, which has more than 1,800 customers, including a partnership with Abu Dhabi School of Government to upskill 60,000 government employees. 

The edtech segment has seen activity in India too. This year, Bengaluru-based edtech startup Byju's reached a valuation of $5 billion, with funding of Rs 214 crore from existing investors New York-headquartered equity firm General Atlantic and Chinese conglomerate Tencent.

Also read: BYJU's valuation crosses $5 B with new funding round