Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2022 - 68

CLOSING
DEALS
UDEMY GOES PUBLIC: A LOOK AT THE
ONLINE LEARNING GIANT'S U.S. IPO
BY SARAH GALLO, CPTM
Founded in 2009, Udemy, an online
education company, has been a
household name in the corporate training
market for some time now. However,
the rise of remote learning amid the
COVID-19 pandemic positioned the
company for unprecedented growth as
companies - and learners - worldwide
looked for continuous learning and
upskilling solutions that they could
access remotely. In fact, Training
Industry pulse research found that over
40% of learning and development (L&D)
professionals are spending more on
learning technologies in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, a trend we expect
to continue as organizations embrace
new ways of working and learning.
Udemy's success culminated with
a recent announcement that it filed
regulatory paperwork for an initial public
offering (IPO) in the U.S. With a price of
$29 per share, the company's market
value is now about $4 billion, compared to
$3.25 billion in November 2020, based
on outstanding shares listed in its filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, Bloomberg reports.
Let's reflect on how Udemy's success
tells a broader story about the demand
for remote learning and greater flexibility
in when, where and how people learn.
A FRONT ROW SEAT
Greg Brown, business president at
Udemy, says that the company " had
a front row seat " into how people are
interacting with online education during
the pandemic. " Perhaps unsurprisingly, "
he says, " we saw a significant surge in
enrollments and consumption across
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both consumers and enterprises during
2020, which helped fuel the company's
decision to file for a U.S. IPO. "
The increased demand for remote
learning illustrates not only a need for
learning, but also a need for learning
that's accessible and flexible, Brown
says. " As such, we want to share the
Udemy offering with a broader swath of
both consumers and organizations, and
an IPO is a great way to help us make
progress toward that goal. "
Udemy's global reach is another factor
that has undoubtedly contributed to its
success: The company currently offers
over 183,000 courses in 75 languages
across over 180 countries. In a recent
press release, Gregg Coccari, Udemy's
chief executive officer, explains that the
company's " differentiated marketplace
model " enables it to continuously deliver
high-quality, relevant content across indemand
skills and local languages to
global customers.
ACCESSIBLE UPSKILLING
As digital transformation and industry
shifts continue to accelerate the need to
upskill the workforce, digital learning will
remain a critical way for organizations
to build business agility and " empower
employees to take control of their
path forward, " Brown says, whether it's
learning how to work remotely or how to
give candid feedback.
With companies struggling to recruit
and retain talent, training providers that
support upskilling at scale will continue
to
thrive as organizations look to
develop skilled talent internally.
When looking for a provider that can
support company-wide upskilling, Brown
says it's important that the provider
can " move at the speed of the market "
with fresh and robust content and offer
training in multiple modalities to appeal
to a variety of learner preferences.
PEOPLE-FIRST
The COVID-19 pandemic brought
about new challenges for employees
and exacerbated existing ones:
Caregiving responsibilities became more
pronounced, mental health concerns
worsened and a heightened awareness
of systemic racism and injustice sparked
difficult but necessary conversations in
and outside of the workplace.
Udemy worked hard to ensure that
employees received the support they
needed to succeed during the crisis.
This meant offering increased flexibility
and mental health support as well as
adopting a financial wellness tool,
Brown says.
Ultimately, we can contribute Udemy's
recent growth to a variety of factors,
from its comprehensive suite of online
courses to its global reach and ability
to help companies upskill at scale. But
if there's anything we learned from a
global health crisis, it's that companies
who embrace human-centric work will
remain competitive during trying times
by harnessing a competitive advantage
like no other: their people.
Sarah Gallo, CPTM, is a senior editor
at Training Industry, Inc., and co-host of
" The Business of Learning, " the Training
Industry podcast. Email Sarah.

https://store.trainingindustry.com/products/training-in-the-time-of-covid-how-learning-and-development-is-responding https://store.trainingindustry.com/products/training-in-the-time-of-covid-how-learning-and-development-is-responding https://www.nihcm.org/publications/covid-19s-impact-on-mental-health-and-workplace-well-being https://store.trainingindustry.com/products/the-state-of-the-learning-technologies-market https://store.trainingindustry.com/products/the-state-of-the-learning-technologies-market https://www.trainingindustry.com/press-release/e-learning/udemy-files-for-u-s-ipo-as-remote-learning-shift-drives-revenue-surge/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/the-business-of-learning-episode-29-how-training-professionals-can-help-organizations-eliminate-racism-cptm/ https://about.udemy.com/press-releases/udemy-reports-third-quarter-2021-results/ https://about.udemy.com/press-releases/udemy-reports-third-quarter-2021-results/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/press-release/e-learning/udemy-targets-4-billion-valuation-in-a-major-edtech-ipo/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/press-release/e-learning/udemy-raises-50-million-to-fuel-accelerated-global-demand-for-online-learning/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/udemy-is-said-to-raise-421-million-in-top-of-range-ipo https://www.trainingindustry.com/training-industry-podcast/

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2022

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