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Udemy

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Udemy, Inc.
Screenshot
Type of businessPublic
Type of site
Online education
Available in
Traded asNasdaq: UDMY
FoundedMay 11, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-05-11)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Created by
Key peopleGreg Brown (CEO)
IndustryE-learning
RevenueIncrease US$516 million (2021)[2]
Operating incomeDecrease US$−78 million (2021)[2]
Net incomeDecrease US$−80 million (2021)[2]
Total assetsIncrease US$740 million (2021)[2]
Total equityIncrease US$390 million (2021)[2]
Employees1,238 (December 2021)[2]
URLwww.udemy.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Users52 million (2022)[3]
Current statusActive

Udemy, Inc. (/ˈjuːdəmi/ YOO-də-mee) is an education technology company, founded in May 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar. It is based in San Francisco, California, United States, with hubs in Denver, Colorado; Dublin, Ireland; Austin, Texas; Melbourne, Australia; İstanbul, Turkey, and Gurgaon, India.[4]

As of September 30, 2024, the platform claimed to have nearly 75 million learners with over one billion course enrollments. The platform offers over 250,000 courses, and more than 75,000 instructors teaching courses in 75 languages. The company claims it has nearly 17,000 Udemy Business customers, and also claims that more than 50% of the Fortune 100 are Udemy Business customers.[3]

Students take courses primarily to improve job-related skills.[5] Some courses generate credit toward technical certification. Udemy attracts corporate trainers seeking to create coursework for employees of their company.[6]

History

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In 2007, Udemy (portmanteau of you academy)[7] founders Eren Bali and Oktay Caglar created a live virtual classroom while living in Turkey. They 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.[8]

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.[9] In response to this, they bootstrapped the development of the product and launched Udemy—"The Academy of You"—in May 2010.[9]

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.[10][11]

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.[12]

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.[13] On April 22, 2014, the Wall Street Journal's digital edition reported that chief operating officer of Udemy, Dennis Yang, was named CEO, replacing Eren Bali.[14]

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.[15]

In June 2015, Udemy raised a $65 million Series D financing round, led by Stripes.[16] Udemy joined another online learning house Skillsdox Inc of Canada to open up School of Skills in India.[citation needed]

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.[17]

On February 5, 2019, Udemy announced that the board of the company appointed Gregg Coccari as its new chief executive officer.[18]

In February 2020, Udemy raised $50 million from long-time partner in Japan, Benesse Holdings, Inc. and announced $2 billion valuation.[19]

In November 2020, Udemy raised $50 million at a $3.25 billion valuation led by Tencent Holdings.[20][21]

On October 29, 2021, Udemy held their IPO in the US and is listed under the symbol UDMY.[22][23]

In 2024, Udemy announced that it would be cutting the percentage of revenues that academic labor received.[24]

Finances

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Udemy has not yet generated a profit as is common among high-growth startups who invest heavily in their own growth.[25] 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.[26]

Branding

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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.[27]

Previously it had been, over time, styled in a number of different ways including a similar logo in bright green (as seen 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

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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.[28]

Courses are offered across a wide breadth of categories, including business and entrepreneurship, academics, the arts, health and fitness, language, music, and technology.[29] Most classes are in practical subjects such as AWS and Azure training, Excel software or using an iPhone camera.[30] Udemy also offers Udemy Business (formerly Udemy for Business), enabling businesses access to a targeted suite of over 24,000 courses[3] 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.[31] 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.[32] In 2015, the top 10 instructors made more than $17 million in total revenue.[33]

In April 2013, Udemy offered an app for Apple iOS, allowing students to take classes directly from iPhones;[34] The Android version was launched in January 2014.[35] 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.[36] In July 2016, Udemy expanded their iOS platform to include Apple TV.[37] On January 11, 2020, the Udemy mobile app became the #1 top grossing Android app in India.[38]

Udemy is sometimes seen as part of the MOOC movement available outside the traditional university system,[39][40] providing an option for students who want to delve into complicated university level courses while studying on their own time.

Reception

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Udemy has been mentioned in The New York Times, The China Post, Fast Company, the BBC, 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."[11][41][42][43][44][45]

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."[46]

In 2020, Udemy Ranked on the Annual 'Change the World' List by Fortune Magazine.[47]

Udemy has been recognized in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 as Bay Area Best Place to Work.[48]

Piracy concerns

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In November 2015, Udemy was accused of publishing and profiting from pirated courses.[49][50][51] 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.[52]

References

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  1. ^ "Our origins". VentureBeat. 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Udemy, Inc. 2021 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 25, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Learn about Udemy culture, mission, and careers | About Us". Udemy About. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  4. ^ "Connecting people with knowledge". about.udemy.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Lomas, Natasha. Online Learning Marketplace Udemy Raises $32M To Scale Up Internationally. TechCrunch. May 8, 2014
  6. ^ Carr, David F. Udemy Comes To Corporate Training Information Week. April 16, 2013
  7. ^ ABCs of Udemy. "Udemy". August 25, 2015.
  8. ^ Eren Bali biography. Udemy.com.
  9. ^ a b How Udemy got oversubscribed. Venture Hacks. September 10, 2010.
  10. ^ Roushe, Wade. Udemy Collects $1 Million to Expand Casual Learning Platform. Xconomy. August 31, 2010.
  11. ^ a b Toto, Serkan. Udemy Scores $1M In Seed Funding, Aims To Democratize Online Learning. TechCrunch. August 31, 2010.
  12. ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (12 October 2011). "Crowdsourced Learning Platform Udemy Raises $3 Million From Lightbank And Others". Crowdsourced Learning Platform Udemy. TechCrunch.
  13. ^ Empson, Rip (7 December 2012). "Online Learning Marketplace Udemy Lands $12M To Expand Its Course Catalog, Go Cross-Platform". Online Learning Marketplace Udemy. TechCrunch. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  14. ^ Kolodny, Lora. Udemy Appoints Dennis Yang CEO; Eren Bali Steps Aside to Lead Product Venture Dispatch, Wall Street Journal Digital. April 22, 2014
  15. ^ Sailors, John. Udemy raises $32 million for online learning marketplace San Francisco Business Times. May 8, 2014
  16. ^ Kolodny, Lora (2015-06-02). "Udemy Raises $65 Million to Become Netflix for Education". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  17. ^ "Udemy raises $60M from Naspers to grow its online education platform globally". VentureBeat. 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  18. ^ Strickland, Brooke (2022-08-09). "Gregg Coccari came out of retirement to take Udemy to next level". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  19. ^ "Udemy Secures $50 Million Investment from Long-time Partner, Benesse Holdings". Udemy About. 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  20. ^ "Udemy bags $50 million in funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  21. ^ "Tencent invests in Udemy; leading $50 million round at $3.25 billion valuation". BEAMSTART - Business Community, Resources, & Opportunities. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  22. ^ "Education-Tech Company Udemy Falls in Debut After $421 Million IPO". Bloomberg.com. 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  23. ^ "Udemy Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering". October 29, 2021.
  24. ^ RL Insights. "Udemy: Focus On Profitability Via Reduction In Instructor Incentive". seekingalpha.com. Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Udemy IPO: EdTech Unicorn Filing Information For Investors". seekingalpha.com. Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Form S-1 Registration Statement". www.sec.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Udemy Introduces New Brand Identity and Logo". Udemy. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  28. ^ "Earn money by creating and teaching online courses on Udemy. Reach millions of students around the world". Udemy. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  29. ^ "Online Courses - Learn Anything, On Your Schedule". Udemy. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  30. ^ Finder, Alan (September 25, 2013). "A Surge in Growth for a New Kind of Online Course". New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Udemy for Business". Udemy.
  32. ^ Empson, Rip. "With Over 6,000 Courses Now Live, Udemy Brings Its Learning Marketplace To iOS To Let You Study On The Go". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  33. ^ Groden, Claire (June 22, 2016). "Udemy's Exodus, Amazon's Gain". Inverse. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  34. ^ Heussner, Ki Mae (2 April 2013). "Exclusive: Udemy lands on mobile so students can learn on the go". Gigaom.
  35. ^ Farr, Christina (15 January 2014). "Udemy launches its Android app to bring you online education on the go". VentureBeat.
  36. ^ Hockenson, Lauren (15 January 2014). "Udemy brings its education marketplace to Android". Gigaom.
  37. ^ "Introducing Udemy for Apple TV". Udemy. 6 July 2016.
  38. ^ "Udemy crosses Tinder to become India's top-grossing Android app - 스타트업앤칠(Startup&Chill)".
  39. ^ "What You Need to Know About MOOCs". Chronicle of Higher Education.
  40. ^ LEWIN, TAMAR (5 March 2012). "Instruction for Masses Knocks Down Campus Walls". New York Times.
  41. ^ Lynley, Matthew. Online Teaching Platform Udemy Raises $1M, Still Too Cool for School. The New York Times. August 31, 2010.
  42. ^ Chapman, Glenn. Online learning startup Free All Programming Courses. The China Post. September 2, 2010.
  43. ^ Schomer, Stephanie. Udemy: A Free University for All. Fast Company. December 2, 2010.
  44. ^ Van Grove, Jennifer. Get a Real-Life Learning Experience in Udemy’s Virtual Classrooms. Mashable. May 13, 2010.
  45. ^ Sumi Das (15 May 2012). "Ivy League education free on the web". BBC Click. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  46. ^ "30 Under 30". Forbes.
  47. ^ "Change the World". Fortune. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  48. ^ "Best Places to Work in the Bay Area, Large Companies". bizjournals.com. May 7, 2021.
  49. ^ "How Udemy Is Profiting From Piracy". Medium. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  50. ^ Dave Lee (2015-11-30). "Anger at 'stolen' online courses on Udemy". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  51. ^ Amar Toor (2015-11-29). "Udemy faces criticism for profiting from pirated online courses". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  52. ^ "Maintaining the integrity of our Udemy community". Archived from the original on 2015-11-29.
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