Education marketplace Udemy raises $12 million to expand content and explore new platforms

After passing 5,000 courses and releasing its first iPad app, online education marketplace Udemy has announced the completion of a $12 million Series B financing round led by Insight Venture Partners. This new round, which also counts Lightbank, MHS Capital and Learn Capital as investors, brings Udemy’s total funding to $16 million, and will be used to help grow the San Francisco-based company’s content offerings as it expands across new platforms.

We’ve kept a close eye on Udemy since we first discovered it in early 2011, and since then, online education has grown into a highly competitive space, thanks to the likes of Coursera, P2PU, Khan Academy, Skillshare, Codecademy and even our own TNW Academy, among many others.

As we’ve previously detailed, Udemy boasts that it is the largest marketplace of its kind, with more than 500,000 users. The company’s site and newly released app provide access to both free and paid courses, including classes from noteworthy instructors such as Lean Startup’s Eric Ries and entrepreneur Steve Blank.

This marketplace model differs from that of Coursera, which exclusively offers free classes, created through partnerships with universities.

With this news, Udemy has also announced a new hire, Dennis Yang, as president and chief operating officer. Yang explains that Udemy’s marketplace model has led the company to double its courses and grow revenue by 400% in one year. As this space continues to crowd, Udemy’s new funds should help its chances for success.

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