Udemy

Udemy, Inc. is a global destination for teaching and learning online. It was founded in May 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar.

As of November 2022, the platform has more than 57 million students, 213,000 courses, and 74,000 instructors teaching courses in over 75 languages. There have been over 773 million course enrollments.

Students take courses primarily to improve job-related skills.Lomas, Natasha
Online Learning Marketplace Udemy Raises $32M To Scale Up Internationally
''TechCrunch''. May 8, 2014 Some courses generate credit toward technical certification. Udemy has made a special effort to attract corporate trainers seeking to create coursework for employees of their company.Carr, David F
Udemy Comes To Corporate Training
''Information Week''. April 16, 2013

The headquarters of Udemy is located in San Francisco, US, with hubs in Denver, US; Dublin, Ireland; Ankara, Turkey; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Gurugram, India.

History

In 2007, Udemy (you-de-mee, portmanteau of ''you + academy'') founders Eren Bali an
Oktay Caglar
built a software for a live virtual classroom while living in Turkey. They saw potential in making the product free for everyone, and moved to Silicon Valley to found a company two years later. The site was launched by Bali, Oktay Caglar and Gagan Biyani in early 2010.

In February 2010, the founders tried to raise venture capital funding, but the idea failed to impress investors and they were rejected 30 times, according to Gagan Biyani. In response to this, they bootstrapped the development of the product and launched Udemy—"The Academy of You"—in May 2010.How Udemy got oversubscribed
''Venture Hacks''. September 10, 2010.

Within a few months, 1,000 instructors had created about 2,000 courses, and Udemy had nearly 10,000 registered users. Based on this favorable market reaction, they decided to attempt another round of financing, and raised $1 million in venture funding by August.Roushe, Wade
Udemy Collects $1 Million to Expand Casual Learning Platform
''Xconomy''. August 31, 2010.Toto, Serkan
Udemy Scores $1M In Seed Funding, Aims To Democratize Online Learning
''TechCrunch''. August 31, 2010.

In October 2011, the company raised an additional $3 million in Series A funding led by Groupon investors Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, as well as 500 Global (previously 500 Startups) and MHS Capital.

In December 2012, the company raised $12 million in Series B funding led by Insight Venture Partners, as well as Lightbank Capital, MHS Capital and Learn Capital, bringing Udemy's total funding to $16 million.Oktay Caglar
On April 22, 2014, the ''Wall Street Journal''s digital edition reported tha

Chief Operating Officer of Udemy was named CEO, replacing Eren Bali.Kolodny, Lora
Udemy Appoints Dennis Yang CEO; Eren Bali Steps Aside to Lead Product
Venture Dispatch, ''Wall Street Journal Digital.'' April 22, 2014

In May 2014, Udemy raised another $32 million in a Series C funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners, as well as Insight Venture Partners and MHS Capital.Sailors, John
Udemy raises $32 million for online learning marketplace
''San Francisco Business Times.'' May 8, 2014

In June 2015, Udemy raised a $65 million Series D financing round, led by Stripes. Now Udemy joined another online learning house Skillsdox Inc of Canada to open up School of Skills in India.

In June 2016, Udemy raised $60 million from Naspers Ventures as a follow-up to the $65 million Series D round of financing from June 2015.

On February 5, 2019, Udemy announced that the board of the company appointed Gregg Coccari as its new chief executive officer.

In February 2020, Udemy raised $50 million from long-time partner in Japan, Benesse Holdings, Inc. and announced $2 billion valuation.

In November 2020, Udemy raised $50 million at a $3.25 billion valuation led by Tencent Holdings.

On October 29, 2021, Udemy held their IPO in the US and is listed under the symbol UDMY.

Finances

Udemy has not yet generated a profit as is common among high-growth startups who invest heavily in their own growth. Udemy reported net losses of $69.7 million for 2019 and $77.6 million in net losses for 2020. By June 30, 2021, Udemy had an accumulated deficit of $407.9 million. In 2020, Udemy spent $192.6 million on marketing and advertising.

Branding

In 2021, Udemy changed its branding to the current look with an inverted purple chevron above the company's trademarked name in bolded lowercase letters and black coloration.

Previously it had been, over time, styled in a number of different ways including a similar logo in bright green (as see
here
without any letter accents. One example of very early logo design used larger text and capitalized the U in 'Udemy' in addition to a large, stylized red U to the left side.

Overview

Udemy is a platform that allows instructors to build online courses on their preferred topics. Using Udemy's course development tools, instructors can upload videos, source code for developers, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, audio, ZIP files and any other content that learners might find helpful. Instructors can also engage and interact with users via online discussion boards.

Courses are offered across a wide breadth of categories, including business and entrepreneurship, academics, the arts, health and fitness, language, music, and technology. Most classes are in practical subjects such as AWS and Azure training, Excel software or using an iPhone camera. Udemy also offers Udemy Business (formerly Udemy for Business), enabling businesses access to a targeted suite of over 7,000 training courses on topics from digital marketing tactics to office productivity, design, management, programming, and more. With Udemy Business, organizations can also create custom learning portals for corporate training. For smaller companies, Udemy offers a Udemy Team Plan that is a limited seat license but identical content to that of Udemy Business.

Courses on Udemy can be paid or free, depending on the instructor. In 2015, the top 10 instructors made more than $17 million in total revenue.

In April 2013, Udemy offered an app for Apple iOS, allowing students to take classes directly from iPhones; The Android version was launched in January 2014. As of January 2014, the iOS app had been downloaded over 1 million times, and 20 percent of Udemy users access their courses via mobile. In July 2016, Udemy expanded their iOS platform to include Apple TV. On January 11, 2020, the Udemy mobile app became the #1 top grossing Android app in India.

Udemy is sometimes seen as part of the MOOC movement available outside the traditional university system, providing an option for students who want to delve into complicated university level courses while studying on their own time.

Reception

Udemy has been mentioned in ''The New York Times'', ''The China Post'', ''Fast Company'', the BBC, YPN and TechCrunch, with Mashable noting "Udemy offers an experience that rivals the real classroom, and should prove to be a useful utility for teachers and students of all subject matters."Lynley, Matthew
Online Teaching Platform Udemy Raises $1M, Still Too Cool for School
''The New York Times''. August 31, 2010.Chapman, Glenn
Online learning startup Free All Programming Courses
''The China Post''. September 2, 2010.Schomer, Stephanie

''Fast Company''. December 2, 2010.Van Grove, Jennifer
Get a Real-Life Learning Experience in Udemy’s Virtual Classrooms
''Mashable''. May 13, 2010.

In 2014, ''Forbes'' named Udemy co-founder Eren Bali as part of their "30 Under 30" of "the brightest stars in 15 different fields under the age of 30."

In 2020, Udemy Ranked on the Annual 'Change the World' List by Fortune Magazine.

Udemy has been recognized in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 as Bay Area Best Place to Work.

Piracy concerns

In November 2015, Udemy was accused of publishing and profiting from pirated courses. The CEO at the time, Dennis Yang, responded to the accusations in a blog post and stated that Udemy did not profit from that instance of piracy.

References

External links

*
{{Finance links
, symbol=UDMY
, bloomberg=UDMY:US
, google=UDMY:NASDAQ
, sec_cik=1607939
, yahoo=UDMY
, reuters=UDMY.O

2010 establishments in California
500 Startups companies
American educational websites
Companies based in San Francisco
Education companies established in 2010
Educational technology companies of the United States
Internet properties established in 2010
Learning management systems
Virtual learning environments
2021 initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Nasdaq