Naspers invests $60m in US learning startup Udemy

Johannesburg - Naspers, Africa’s biggest company by market value, invested $60mn in online-learning provider Udemy, capital the US startup will use to expand in international markets and add local courses.

Udemy has grown significantly over the past year and now offers more than 40 000 courses in 80 different languages, Cape Town-based Naspers said in a statement on its website on Thursday. The deal follows Udemy’s $65 million 2015 fundraising, led by New York-based Stripes Group.

The investment is the second to be made out of Naspers’s newly opened office in San Francisco after leading a $15m injection in education-technology company Brainly last month.

Naspers has grown into a R1 trillion company through investing mainly in emerging-market internet companies, notably China’s Tencent Holdings and Mail.ru of Russia.

“Naspers is consistently looking to invest in markets where technology can make a significant impact,” said Larry Illg, chief executive officer of Naspers Ventures.

“Udemy has built a technology platform that will transform education on a global scale and we are eager to help them with further expansion.”