IBL News

Category: Platforms | Tech

  • Course Catalog Company Open Sesame Raises $50 Million

    Course Catalog Company Open Sesame Raises $50 Million

    IBL News | New York

    Professional e-learning company OpenSesame.com announced last week a $50 million investment by equity firm JMI Equity with participation from existing investors, FTV Capital and Altos Ventures. To date, the total funding date is $107.4 million.

    Portland, Oregon-based, 173-staffed company stated that the last investment will accelerate its innovation and global expansion. AI-powered course curation will be one of those areas, according to Don Spear, CEO of OpenSesame.

    With a catalog of over 20,000 learning courses in 19 languages — including classes from TED and Harvard Business Publishing —, Open Sesame has noticed a surge in demand on topics such as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and leadership development. OpenSesame’s Simon platform allows learning administrators to customize lessons.

    Also this month, Open Sesame announced the integration of its courses with Microsoft Viva’s Employee Experience Platform (EXP), powered by Microsoft 365 and utilized primarily through Microsoft Teams.

    U.S. education tech startups raised over $2.2 billion in 2020, a 30% increase from 2019.

  • The IMS Global Consortium Certifies the Open edX’s Lilac Platform

    The IMS Global Consortium Certifies the Open edX’s Lilac Platform

    IBL News | New York

    The last version of Open edX called “Lilac” has been formally certified as an LTI Advantage platform by the IMS Global Learning Consortium.

    Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) is a standard to connect extensions to educational platforms.

    The Consortium announced last month that “Open edX Platform Lilac has completed conformance testing for the IMS Standards.”

    The edX organization became a contributing member of IMS in 2020, after years of disagreement.

    The Open edX platform has long supported LTI as an extension mechanism to enable a wide range of learning experiences.

    The “Lilac” version uses the LTI consumer XBlock.

    Ned Batchelder, Open edX Architect, stated that “as an open-source platform, we believe strongly in supporting standards like LTI that enable instructional teams to choose the best tools for their needs.”

    The Open edX platform and code will remain under the ownership of MIT and Harvard through a new non-profit organization that will receive $800 million from 2U Inc.

    [Disclosure: IBL Education, the parent company of the IBL News service, uses Open edX software on its platform, and provides custom ecosystems]

    • IBL News: Deep coverage of the purchase of edX Inc. by 2U

     

     

     

  • Thoma Bravo-Engineered Financial Operation of Instructure Got a Good Reception

    Thoma Bravo-Engineered Financial Operation of Instructure Got a Good Reception

    IBL News | New York

    Thoma Bravo-controlled Instructure Holdings Inc. (NYSE: INST) returned to the secondary market yesterday after the company that owns Canvas LMS priced its initial public offering of 12.5 million shares at $20 apiece — meaning the company estimates it will raise $250 million, mostly intended to cut its debt of $778 million in the long term.

    Executives of the company rang the opening bell at the NYSE today, as shown in the pictures and video below.

    The registration statement was filed at the SEC on July 21, 2021. The offering is expected to close on July 26, 2021.

    The stock closed at $20.69, after a gain of 4.90% on its first day of trading. The market capitalization was 2.95 billion.

    It was a successful debut for Thoma Bravo, the investment equity company that took Instructure private last year in a deal valued at $2 billion. The Salt Lake City, Utah – based start-up first went public four years ago.

    The finance company will own 88% of the stock after the offering, or 87% if the overallotment option is exercised in full. Instructure granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.8 million shares at the IPO price.

    During the first three months of 2021, Instructure had revenue of $94.0 million and a net loss of $33.1 million, according to the filing.

     

    • IBL News, July 14, 2021: Instructure / Canvas LMS Details Its IPO: A Valuation of $2.9 Billion Expected

  • Skillsoft Reduces Its Long-Term Debt by $130M and Increases Cash Flow for Acquisitions

    Skillsoft Reduces Its Long-Term Debt by $130M and Increases Cash Flow for Acquisitions

    IBL News | New York

    Boston-based corporate training Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE: SKIL) announced yesterday it successfully completed its debt refinancing. Now the company has $480 million of long-term debt outstanding.

    A press release indicated: “The company closed a new $480 million senior secured term loan B facility. This facility, along with cash on hand, will be used to refinance and repay the company’s existing term loan facilities, thereby reducing long-term debt by approximately $130 million.”

    “The new term loan B facility reduces Skillsoft’s interest rate by 300 basis points and extends its maturity from 2025 to 2028. Together, the refinancing and debt paydown will decrease the company’s annual interest payments by approximately $25 million.”

    Jeffrey R. Tarr, Skillsoft’s Chief Executive Officer, explained, “We are pleased to complete our refinancing, which strengthens our balance sheet, increases our free cash flow, and provides substantial financial flexibility to execute on our organic and acquisitive growth plans.”

    Last month, Skillsoft acquired professional development and executive individualized coaching SaaS platform Pluma for $22 million in cash. Pluma’s coaching experience, via in-app messaging and video sessions, will be integrated into Skillsoft’s AI-driven Percipio platform.

    Also, in June, Skillsoft started to trade in Nasdaq. On June 14, the stock opened at $10.90 per share. Yesterday, it closed at $9.10. The stock loss, about 15%, reflects that investors haven’t rewarded Skillsoft’s refinancing efforts and growth strategy to date.

    Skillsoft claims it serves training to 70% of the Fortune 1000.

    This year, courses with the most completions are:

    1. Software Data Analysis: Project Management Metrics
    2. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
    3. Data Science Overview
    4. SQL Concepts & Queries
    5. Machine Learning
    6. Artificial Intelligence: Basic AI Theory
    7. Automation Design & Robotics
    8. Applying Predictive Analytics
    9. Data Access & Governance Policies: Data Access Governance
    10. Machine & Deep Learning Algorithms: Introduction

    Meanwhile, courses with the most consumption hours are:

    1. Business Reporting: Getting Started with Power BI Desktop for Data Analysis
    2. SQL Concepts and Queries
    3. Power BI Desktop Bootcamp: Session 1 Replay
    4. Software Data Analysis: Project Management Metrics
    5. Business Reporting: Visualizing & Merging Data in Power BI

    Most liked courses:

    1. Power BI: Getting Started with Data Analytics
    2. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
    3. Data Science Overview
    4. SQL Concepts & Queries
    5. Power BI: Data Modeling & Visualization
    6. Relational Database Concepts
    7. Software Data Analysis: Project Management Metrics
    8. Power BI: Data Preparation
    9. Big Data Essentials
    10. Power BI: Data Sourcing

     

     

     

  • Duolingo Determines an IPO Price Between $85 and $95 Per Share and Seeks a Valuation of $4.3 Billion

    Duolingo Determines an IPO Price Between $85 and $95 Per Share and Seeks a Valuation of $4.3 Billion

    IBL News | New York

    Language-learning app Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ: DUOL) set the price range of $85 to $95 for its IPO (Initial Public Offering).

    The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based startup is offering 5.1 million shares of Class A common stock (1.4 million from the selling stockholders, with these proceeds not going to the company), according to an amendment to its S-1 filing released today.

    This offering of stock would rake $433.5 million to $484.5 million.

    Duolingo would be valued between $3.41 and $4.38 billion at the maximum price, far beyond what analysts predicted.

    • IBL News, July 16: Duolingo, Valued at $2.4 Billion, Will the Next Public EdTech Startup

  • Duolingo, Valued at $2.4 Billion, Will the Next Public EdTech Startup

    Duolingo, Valued at $2.4 Billion, Will the Next Public EdTech Startup

    IBL News | New York

    Language-learning app Duolingo will be the next high-profile edtech company to become public and start trading in the Nasdaq — under the ticker symbol “DOUL.”

    It also will be the first major IPO from Pittsburgh’s burgeoning tech ecosystem, influenced by the presence of The Carnegie Mellon University, known for its computer science programs.

    Founded in 2011 and headquartered in the historic Pennsylvanian steel town, the company filed for an initial public offering last June 29. Duolingo was last valued at $2.4 billion after raising $183 million from investors, including General Atlantic and Kleiner Perkins.

    On its S-1 prospectus, Duolingo claims 40 million monthly active users and over 500 million downloads. It shows that its revenue more than doubled in the first quarter this year until $55.4 million. In the same period, net losses widened to $13.5 million from $2.2 million a year ago.

    In 2020, its revenue was $161.7 million, representing 129% year-over-year growth.

    As of the end of March 2021, it had 1.8 million paid subscribers — using the Duolingo Plus ad-free version of the platform. Last year, during the outbreak of the pandemic, it attracted 30 million new users.

    In terms of the revenue sources, over 72% comes from subscriptions to Duolingo Plus, 17% from advertising, and 10% from the Duolingo English Test and other revenue.

    Duolingo currently offers courses in 40 languages, including endangered languages such as Navajo and fictional languages from TV shows like Star Trek and Game of Thrones. More people learning certain languages, such as Irish and Hawaiian, on the company’s app than there are native speakers of those languages worldwide.

    The startup was founded in 2011 by two engineers, Guatemala-born Luis von Ahn and Swiss Severin Hacker. The co-founders met at Carnegie Mellon University, where Luis was a professor in the computer science department and Severin was his Ph.D. student.

  • Instructure Acquires Its Partner “EesySoft” as It Prepares to Go Public… Again!

    Instructure Acquires Its Partner “EesySoft” as It Prepares to Go Public… Again!

    IBL News | New York

    Instructure, which owns Canvas LMS, announced last week the acquisition of its long-time partner EesySoft, for an undisclosed amount. The purchase took place in the same week that Instructure quietly announced that it is preparing to go public again, just 15 months after equity firm Thoma Bravo made the company private.

    This June 28, 2021, Instructure Holdings Inc. filed for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) in the SEC. The S-1 filing came after a year-and-a-half-long restructuring of the company discretely, without the watch of regulators and common stockholders in the market.

    In this timeframe, Instructure sold Bridge corporate LMS in February 2021, executed an undisclosed number of layoffs on sales and marketing, and move part of its software development to Budapest, Hungary, where operating costs are notoriously lower.

    Significantly, Instructure didn’t post the announcement of the IPO on its usual PR channels, nor on its Twitter account. The EdTech community’s attention on the 2U-edX transaction helped Instructure’s IPO request to go unnoticed last week.

    Instructure described in its S-1 the restructuring in these terms:

    “We implemented a strategic expense reduction plan that enabled us to focus on delivering customer value sustained by recurring revenue, durable growth, and improved retention, with fewer resources than we had at the time of the Take-Private Transaction. We simplified our organizational design, moved a portion of our development efforts to Budapest, closed and consolidated facilities internationally and within the U.S., and aligned the organization with our sole focus on serving education.”

    The number of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been determined.

    Instructure will be listed on The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “INST”, exactly the same it had.

    During the first three months of 2021, Instructure had revenue of $94.0 million and a net loss of $33.1 million, according to the filing. The company’s long-term debt is $778 million.

    Impact by Instructure

    The acquired company EesySoft will be rebranded as “Impact by Instructure”, with solutions to help institutions adopt new tools and evaluate their impact on student engagement and outcomes.

    Steve Daly, CEO of Instructure, explained that “hybrid learning is here to stay” and “districts and schools are under increased pressure to measure the ROI.”

    EesySoft is a 40-person company based in Amsterdam, founded in 2010 by CEO Michel Visser and CTO Jan Henrick Ejme [in the picture above].

    The start-up provides a guided user experience for education technology platforms like Canvas LMS, thereby improving teaching and enhancing the student’s online learning experience. It also offers help for institutions to either add their own or integrate 3rd party assets.

  • 2U Buys MIT’s and Harvard’s edX Platform for $800M; Open edX Software Kept as Non-Profit

    2U Buys MIT’s and Harvard’s edX Platform for $800M; Open edX Software Kept as Non-Profit

    IBL News | New York

    In a surprising deal, 2U Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU) announced yesterday that it will purchase edX Inc. — a nonprofit founded by MIT and Harvard University — for $800 million in cash.

    With the transaction, Online Program Manager (OPM) 2U will acquire all edX assets, including the brand, the website with 50 million learners, a marketplace with 230 university and corporate partners, and 3,500 digital programs.

    The $800 million proceeds will flow to a new, still unnamed nonprofit led by Harvard and MIT that “will collaborate with educational institutions, governments, and other organizations to develop and evaluate new approaches to learning and pedagogy.”  This non-profit will maintain the open-source platform Open edX, according to the press statement.

    2U stated that it plans to operate edX under its umbrella “as a public benefit entity, a class of purpose-driven organizations that balances the interests of shareholders with other stakeholders.” It means that the new edX will operate as a for-profit company, as MIT confirmed.

    The Lanham, Maryland – based company said that “it has also committed to continuing to fulfill the edX mission by, among other things, guaranteeing affordability through the continuation of a free track to audit courses.”

    In addition, 2U ensured that it will contribute “to the ongoing development of the fully open-source and independent platform Open edX.”

    2U and edX described the deal as “an industry-redefining combination that will help power the digital transformation of higher education, expand access and affordability, and usher in a new era of online learning.”

    A themed, PR website called Transformingdigitaleducation.com was specifically created to announce the transaction.

    With over 80 top universities as customers, 2U said was expecting “to approach $1 billion in yearly revenue by the end of 2021.”

    In 2020, edX revenues were 84.6 million, and its operating loss $17.4 million, according to public records.

    “By combining 2U and edX’s global reach and offerings from free to degree, together we believe we can fully realize our shared vision, meet the growing worldwide demand for online education, and deliver growth and long-term value to shareholders and other stakeholders,” said 2U Co-Founder & CEO, Christopher “Chip” Paucek.

    “As edX looks to its next phase of growth and impact, joining forces with 2U marks a major milestone in our evolution,” said Anant Agarwal, Founder, and CEO of edX and MIT Professor.

    “Today’s announcement will carry forward this mission on a whole new scale, connecting many more learners with a wider range of high-quality options for content, credentials and degrees. With online education rapidly changing, it’s the right moment for this leap of evolution for edX,” said Harvard president Larry Bacow and MIT president Rafael Reif in a joint statement. “At the same time, the nonprofit that emerges from this transaction will enable us and our partners to support innovation that enhances learning for all and, we hope, play a catalytic role in closing the learning gap that exists for far too many.”

    2U said that it will contribute to supporting the Open edX platform, despite it will belong to MIT and Harvard’s new non-profit company. “Following the closing, 2U expects to be a significant contributor of code to the Open edX platform, and the transaction is expected to increase the impact that Open edX can have in supporting learning outcomes around the world. Open edX currently powers approximately 2,400 learning sites worldwide.”

    • MIT’s view: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

    • Harvard’s view: Harvard and MIT-led nonprofit to tackle longstanding inequities in education

    • MIT News: FAQs on agreement to sell edX to 2U, Inc. and fund nonprofit to reimagine digital learning

  • Corporate Training Startup Skillsoft Debuts in the NYSE with a Small Drop

    Corporate Training Startup Skillsoft Debuts in the NYSE with a Small Drop

    IBL News | New York

    Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) debuted yesterday trading in the market with a drop of 1.4%, closing at $10.60 per share.

    The stock opened at $10.90, and it reached low pricing of $10.50. Market capitalization closed at $914 million.

    The company is owned by a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) called Churchill Capital Corp II, which also purchased the training company Global Knowledge.

    In a press statement, Boston-based Skillsoft highlighted that “it operates with an attractive business model, characterized by recurring revenue, strong free cash flow conversion, high operating leverage and low capital requirements.”

    Jeffery R. Tarr, the company’s CEO, said that “together with Global Knowledge, we will serve our customers with unmatched learning technologies and the industry’s most comprehensive suite of premium and original content.”

    Mr. Tarr [in the picture above] discussed Skillsoft’s plans for growth in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

    • Resource:
    SEC Documents

  • Pluralsight Buys Skills Development Platform A Cloud Guru

    Pluralsight Buys Skills Development Platform A Cloud Guru

    IBL News | New York

    Pluralsight.com (NASDAQ: PS) announced yesterday it is purchasing skills development platform A Cloud Guru (ACG), for an undisclosed amount.

    Recently acquired by equity investor Vista Equity Partners, Silicon Slopes, Utah-based Pluralsight is reinforcing its course offering on cloud technologies. A Cloud Guru achieved a leading position in the niche of certification courses, hands-on labs and sandboxes, exams, and quizzes.

    This move follows its conclusion that “the vast majority of IT decision-makers believe that the shortage of cloud skills is their number one challenge.”

    Sam Kroonenburg, Co-founder and CEO, A Cloud Guru, said “we’ve taken different but complementary approaches, proven to resonate strongly with customers who want depth and breadth in tech education.”

    “Technology is the number one differentiator for all businesses and the technical skills of your team is what determines success or failure. Nowhere is that more apparent than with cloud technologies,” said Aaron Skonnard, Co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight.