The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a boom in online learning, boosting the revenues of education technology company Coursera.
Coursera
Education technology company Coursera filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COUR”.
The Mountain View, California-based company provides individuals with access to online courses and degrees from top universities, a company that boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coursera has been on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list several times and most recently at No. 4 on the 2020 list.
The nine-year company brought in approximately $ 293 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31 – a growth rate of 59% as of 2019, according to the filing. Net losses increased by approximately $ 20 million year over year and reached $ 66.8 million in 2020.
“Our revenues have increased significantly, mainly due to an increase in filings during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the company’s prospectus. “Likewise, we have experienced a significant increase in our operating costs associated with our services, mainly driven by our freemium offering and marketing efforts. As the pandemic made remote work and online learning widespread, it is uncertain the impact of phasing out the Covid -19 pandemic could affect our bottom line. ”
The company said that in the two years ended December 31, 2020, it added more than 12,000 new degree students at an average purchase price of less than $ 2,000.
The total number of registered users grew by 65% year on year in 2020.
According to data from PitchBook, Coursera was last valued at $ 2.5 billion.
The company was founded by former Stanford University computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. When Coursera was founded in 2012, both had spent enough time in higher education to realize that change was too late and that online learning was a good way forward.
As of December 31, 2020, more than 150 universities were offering more than 4,000 courses through Coursera, which offers more than two dozen courses at prices lower than many in-person school offerings. A bachelor’s or master’s degree earned through Coursera can range in price from $ 9,000 to $ 45,000, according to the prospectus.
During the pandemic, Coursera also partnered with more than 330 government agencies in 70 countries and 30 U.S. states and cities as part of the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative, which helps governments provide unemployed workers with free access to thousands of business, technology and data science skills courses from companies, including Amazon and Google.
It also offers a wide variety of teaching certificates and professional skills courses that range in price from just $ 9.99 to $ 99.
“While the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is severe and widespread and continues to evolve, it has accelerated the need for online education. Both individuals and institutions have relied on and continue to rely on online learning to drive change and change. disruption, ”states the prospectus of the company’s IPO.
The number of shares and the price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are listed as the top insurers.