The Covid-19 pandemic led to a boom in online learning, which increased the revenue of the educational technology company Coursera.
courser
Educational technology company Coursera filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday and plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COUR”.
The Mountain View, California-based company provides individuals with access to online courses and diplomas from top universities, a business that grew during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coursera has made the CNBC Disruptor 50 list several times and most recently ranked 4th on the 2020 list.
The nine-year-old company brought in revenue of about $ 293 million for the fiscal year ended December 31 – a 59% growth rate from 2019, according to the document. Net losses expanded by about $ 20 million year-over-year to $ 66.8 million in 2020.
“Our revenues have increased significantly due primarily to an increase in enrollment during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the IPO prospectus said. “We have also experienced a significant increase in our operating costs associated with our services, primarily driven by our freemium offerings and marketing efforts. As the pandemic has made distance learning and online learning more widespread, it is not certain what impact the reduction of the Covid-19 pandemic could have on our operational results. “
The company said it has added more than 12,000 new students in the past two years ended December 31, 2020, at an average acquisition cost of less than $ 2,000.
The total number of registered users increased by 65% year-on-year in 2020.
According to PitchBook data, Coursera was most recently valued at $ 2.5 billion.
The company was founded by former Stanford University professors of computer science, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. When Coursera was established in 2012, they had both spent enough time in higher education to realize that change was delayed and that online learning was a good way.
As of December 31, 2020, more than 150 universities have offered more than 4,000 courses through Coursera, which offers more than two dozen study programs at lower prices than many per-person school offerings. According to the prospectus, a bachelor’s or master’s degree completed through Coursera can range from $ 9,000 to $ 45,000.
During the pandemic, Coursera also worked with more than 330 government agencies in 70 countries and 30 U.S. states and cities as part of the Coursera Recovery Initiative, which helps governments provide free access to unemployed workers. to thousands of courses in business, technology and data. scientific skills from companies, including Amazon and Google.
It also offers a wide variety of education certificates and professional skills courses, ranging in price from $ 9.99 to $ 99.
“Although the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is severe, 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 navigate change and disruption, ”the company’s IPO prospectus states.
The number of shares and the price range for the proposed offer have not yet been established. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are listed as major subscribers.