The archive · Education & Work · Financial decision · 2020
Udemy raises $50M from Benesse at a $2B valuation on its marketplace bet
Marketplace of ~150,000 short courses from 57,000 instructors reached a $2B pre-money valuation in Feb 2020 as Benesse invested $50M.
Udemy
What the business is
Udemy runs a two-sided online learning marketplace: about 150,000 short courses created by roughly 57,000 instructors are sold a la carte to consumers and, through Udemy for Business, as subscription professional development to about 5,000 enterprises.
Starting capital：$50M from Benesse at a $2B pre-money valuation announced 2020-02-19, taking Udemy's total funding to about $200M across Stripes, Naspers (now Prosus), Learn Capital, Insight Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and others.
How it started
Udemy had been in business about ten years by February 2020, running a marketplace of short courses rather than chasing degrees the way Coursera did; in that decade its ~57,000 instructors had netted about $350M in payments. President Darren Shimkus described the consumer product as a 'Netflix-style' dashboard of on-demand courses.
What happened
After a $60M Naspers-led round in 2016 that valued Udemy near $710M (PitchBook data cited by TechCrunch), the company built an enterprise arm serving about 5,000 customers including Adidas, General Mills, Toyota, Wipro, Pinterest and Lyft. On 2020-02-19 Benesse Holdings — Udemy's long-time Japan partner — invested $50M at a $2B pre-money valuation, with plans to expand in Japan, Brazil and India and to deepen data analytics and new subject areas.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Udemy is a two-sided online learning marketplace: roughly 57,000 instructors publish about 150,000 short courses, from business analytics to ukulele, that consumers buy a la carte and about 5,000 enterprises license as subscription professional development for employees.
The company had been in business about ten years when, on 2020-02-19, Japanese publisher Benesse Holdings — its partner in Japan — invested $50M at a $2B pre-money valuation, lifting total funding to roughly $200M. That was a step up from the $60M Naspers-led round in 2016 that valued Udemy near $710M.
The bet, restated by president Darren Shimkus, was that short practical courses would win over degree-centric e-learning: the biggest challenge for learners, he said, is figuring out which skills are emerging as old ones stop mattering. Udemy planned to spend on enterprise services, instructor tools, international expansion (Japan, Brazil, India) and new subject areas such as language learning alongside Benesse's Berlitz.
The TechCrunch story ends at the announcement: it records 50M students, $350M paid out to instructors, and rivals moving in both directions — Coursera raising at $1B+ and Udacity laying off 20% — but no later outcome for Udemy itself.
What has to be true
- The marketplace had already reached scale before the raise: about 150,000 courses from 57,000 instructors, roughly 50M students, and $350M paid out to instructors over a decade.
- Enterprise was the second engine: about 5,000 subscription customers — Adidas, Toyota, Lyft, Pinterest and others — turned a consumer catalog into recurring B2B revenue described as 'Netflix-style'.
- Benesse was a strategic investor: Udemy's Japan partner had already co-developed content with it, and paying a $2B pre-money price signaled confidence in international expansion.
- Udemy stayed out of Coursera's fight over degrees by focusing on short courses and certifications, positioning itself for workplace reskilling instead of higher-education disruption.
What can be applied
A marketplace compounds only when supply keeps deepening: thousands of instructors built a catalog so broad that consumers — then employers — paid, and a strategic investor validated the valuation.
Aftermath
As of 2020-02-20 Udemy had just announced the $50M Benesse investment at a $2B pre-money valuation, planning to expand enterprise services, instructor tools, international operations (starting with Japan, then Brazil and India) and new subject areas. The TechCrunch piece ends at the announcement, so no later revenue or liquidity outcome is recorded here.
Sources
- Online learning marketplace Udemy raises $50M at a $2B valuation from Japanese publisher Benesse
- HN discussion of Udemy's $50M Benesse round
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