Simplilearn has secured $45 million funding from a consortium led by , a multi-stage venture capital firm. The funding will help the company fast-track its business across the globe.
Over 1,20,000 paid B2C learners and over 100,000 enterprise learners have joined the startup’s platform. Each year, it adds more than two million free learners to its SkillUp platform.
Deborah H Quazzo, Managing Partner, GSV Ventures, said, “With immense experience investing and working with education firms around the world, it is certain that the demand for knowledge-gain and upskilling is omnipresent. Like many other sectors, technology is disrupting education, and edtech has been a key focus area for us. Simplilearn is a unique player in the digital skilling space with premium content and partnerships with various marquee universities and enterprises.
“Given the company’s promising growth trajectory over the past years, we are excited to partner with Blackstone, Krishna Kumar, and Simplilearn to accelerate growth and contribute to building one of the world’s leading digital upskilling companies. We look forward to a promising future of continued customer-centricity, enabling professionals across the globe to become highly skilled in the digital economy,” Quazoo added.
Simplilearn, a digital skilling company with offices in San Francisco and Bengaluru, was founded in 2010 and provides professional learners with upskilling and certification opportunities in rapidly expanding digital fields.
It develops these programmes in association with eminent academic institutions and corporations, including Caltech CTME, IIT Roorkee, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Purdue University, UMass Amherst and the Isenberg School of Management, Wharton Online, and IIT Kanpur.
Simplilearn reports robust growth
“We continue to witness the accelerated need for digitally skilled workforce across industries and Simplilearn continues to be focused on bridging the digital skill gap. Continuing on our path of mindful growth, we are grateful for how far the company has come today. The Blackstone investment last year came at an ideal time to boost our growth globally, and further strengthen our customer-centric approach. Today, we are excited to partner with GSV Ventures, a globally recognized investor with a strong track record in the education sector, along with a strong set of co-investors in Clal Insurance and DisruptAD. This funding came at a time when the industry is going through turmoil and stands as a testimony to our steady, profitable growth,” said Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO, of Simplilearn, said.
He added, “We believe GSV Ventures, Clal Insurance, and DisruptAD will bring value to our company given their experience, scale, and global network which will further enhance our efforts towards growing Simplilearn and sustaining our leadership, globally. We also thank our existing investor, Blackstone, for their resolute support and trust in our journey of becoming a market leader.”
The round also saw participation from GSV Ventures, Clal Insurance, and DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform.
