US-based edtech firm Udemy enters Indian market

One of the best potential markets for online education - India - is going to witness the entry of a global platform called Udemy. The US-based firm will start its India operations with an employee hub in Gurugram.

The local presence will enable the Naspers-backed company to continue enhancing and localising the student and instructor experience.

According to the company's CEO Gregg Coccari, Udemy’s rapid growth in India is a testimony to the level of demand from students, instructors, and companies for affordable skills training.

The marketplace for learning and teaching online, Udemy globally covers more than 30 million students and 42,000 instructors under its network.

Apart from regular courses, Udemy provides subscription-based e-learning programs in faculties such as Business, IT &Software, Design, Marketing, Photography, Music among several others.

Udemy for Business is specifically designed for organisations that are looking to continually invest in their workforces. It counts Booking.com, Publicis Sapient, Pinterest, and Adidas as its client.

The content is available in the downloadable format in over 50 languages on the web, on a mobile device, Apple TV, and through Chromecast.

Founded in 2010 Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, Ireland, Turkey, and Brazil.

So far, the company has raised over $173 million from the likes of Naspers, MHS Capital, Insight Venture Partners Norwest VP Stripe Capital. The last institutional round for Udemy came in June 2016 when it raised $60 million led by the South African tech giant.

In India, Udemy will be competing with another Naspers-backed company -Byju's. The edtech unicorn has gained worldwide popularity and has been regarded as the world's most valued firm in this space.

Apart from Byju's, Udemy will be competing with Coursera, UpGrad, Udacity and others.

The development was reported by ET.