[Funding alert] Edtech company Udacity raises $75M in debt from Hercules Capital

Silicon Valley and Delhi-based Udacity, which prepares employees and students to future-proof their career, on Thursday announced that its Q3 enterprise and government bookings rose by 120 percent year-over-year, total bookings increased 80 percent year-over-year, and ARR increased 260 percent in H1 2020.

In addition, the company has reached profitability and has signed a $75 million debt facility, with Hercules Capital serving as the underwriter.

Udacity is a global, online training platform powering digital transformation and accelerated time-to-market initiatives for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises. The company’s programmes provide industry-created practitioner skills through a series of "Nanodegree" programmes consisting of online courses and real-world projects in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, autonomous systems, cloud computing, cybersecurity, programming, digital marketing, and product management, among other disciplines.

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Udacity collaborates with expert instructors and over 200 global industry partners including AT&T, Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, and NVIDIA to power technical education. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Germany, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

"Our clients clearly understand that investing in current talent versus hiring from the outside has proven to be a far more effective way to accelerate their digital transformation strategy," said Gabriel Dalporto, CEO of Udacity. "This new financing will help us continue to scale and provide global workers with the skills they need to future-proof their careers."

Most recently, Microsoft and Udacity launched a Machine Learning Engineer for Microsoft Azure Nanodegree programme. The firm also partnered with AT&T to provide 1,000 Nanodegree licences at a combined value of over $1 million to members of underserved communities.

"Given Udacity's growth, focus on sustainable business practices, and expanding reach across multiple industries, we are excited to provide this investment. We look forward to working with the company to help them sustain their impressive global growth, and continued innovation in upskilling and reskilling," added Steve Kuo, Senior Managing Director and Technology Group Head at Hercules Capital.

Udacity has raised $238 million in funding to date from investors including Bertelsmann, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, Drive Capital and Hercules Capital.