New York-headquartered online learning portal Skillshare has raised $28 million in Series C funding round backed by Singapore and San Francisco-based venture capital firm Amasia.
The new round includes $20 million in equity funding as well as $8 million in venture debt. Union Square Ventures, who previously participated in Skillshare’s earlier funding rounds, led the equity portion of the financing. Also participating were Burda Principal Investments and Spero Ventures.
Skillshare said it will use the financing to accelerate growth and expand its learning ecosystem, which serves the growing independent workforce.
“This round comes at a time in our company’s history where we’re seeing a lot of momentum,” said Matt Cooper, CEO of Skillshare. “Over the last twelve months we’ve experienced greater than 100% revenue growth, much of which was driven by what we call the ‘Independent Class’”.
Currently, Skillshare’s platform boasts over 5 million users and over 20,000 classes taught by a network of 6,000 experts across dozens of fields.
“Skillshare’s subscription model and affordable price make its ever-growing catalog of classes broadly accessible,” said Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. “That’s a powerful model as it keeps the price of marginal usage at zero, allowing members to try classes risk-free and explore new paths of learning across a wide number of disciplines. In that regard, it’s like a Netflix for learning”.
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Of late, that thriving online community has become increasingly global as well, the startup said. Asia, particularly, has shown huge potential, with paid members from the region growing by more than 400 per cent over the last eighteen months.
Skillshare raised its Series B round in May of 2016. To date, the company has raised a total of $42 million in equity financing.
