Dive Brief:
- Coursera is on its way to raising $60 million in its latest funding round, with $49.5 million already committed by investors confident in the company’s expected profitability by 2019.
- EdSurge reports that the new cash will fund expansion in Coursera’s international offerings, — especially to students in China and India, with new courses from colleges and universities in those countries offered in their native languages.
- Coursera is rounding out its portfolio by continuing to partner with colleges and universities for content, as well as bringing in business partners for specializations offered as part of the recently launched Global Skills Initiative.
Dive Insight:
Coursera is still not profitable, but like Amazon, investors continue to support its operations. Last year, CEO Richard Levin, former president of Yale University, predicted the company would be “financially viable” by 2019 in an interview with The New York Times. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that one major benefit of partnerships with Coursera is marketing. Offering courses through the platform internationally brings name recognition abroad for small schools that otherwise don’t have it.