MasterClass, the streaming platform that makes it feasible for anyone to gain knowledge from the top of the best, today announced it had raised $225 million in Series F financing that was under the direction of Fidelity Management & Research Company and included participation from new investors include Baillie Gifford Balyasny Asset Management and Eldridge along with its the existing investors IVP, Javelin, NEA and Owl Ventures.
MasterClass raises $225M to Increase Growth
Series F funding follows a $100 million Series E round that MasterClass concluded in the past year, bringing the total funding to over $475 million. The new capital will help the company’s strategic goals such as:
- The increase in content production: Over these two decades, fuelled by the rapid growth of MasterClass, MasterClass has increased its content portfolio by over 90 percent. The additional funds will enable a greater variety and depth of content in existing and new genres and formats.
- Expanding internationally: This year, MasterClass will begin offering classes in new markets worldwide to make its entire portfolio of classes available in additional languages and add new international talents to the instructors’ roster.
- The launch of the new Enterprise service: New audiences will experience MasterClass via an enterprise service that will officially launch later in the year due to the booming demand from SMBs and large corporations.
- Continuous Growth of the workforce: MasterClass continues to expand its c-suite and has increased its staff by over 100 percent from 2019. Its company currently has more than 338 employees and plans to increase the number of employees to more than 500 by 2021. It will also be opening an office in the eastern region of Canada in the coming year.
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“Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of subscribers as they want to pursue their dream of continuous learning beyond the boundaries of traditional education -MasterClass MasterClass can help with that, thanks to our amazing roster of instructors with cinematic production capabilities, as well as an unwavering focus on restoring the excitement of learning,” explained David Rogier, founder and the CEO of MasterClass. “We are thankful to the MasterClass investors for their help and this latest funding which will allow us to expand our offerings to subscribers worldwide and take advantage of the market opportunity we see.”
“As the first investor in MasterClass, We remain impressed by the company’s record of constant innovation and rapid growth while being focused on the sustainability of its finances and fiscal responsibility,” said Rick Yang, General Partner and Director of Consumer Investing at NEA. “MasterClass is a wide content portfolio that offers unparalleled access to world-class instructors, establishing it as a unique player in the streaming industry and ensuring high customer loyalty. We’re thrilled with MasterClass and partner with this game-changing company to unlock new possibilities in this next phase of Growth and prosperity.”
The additional existing and new investors of MasterClass’s Series F are 01 Advisors, Atomico, Bonnier, Cleo Capital, Dan Capital, NewView Capital, NextEquity Partners, Outlier Ventures, Powerhouse Capital, RPS Ventures, Family Office of Ronald Lauder, and UTA.
