Coursera took Stanford University classes, put them on the internet for free, and somehow turned that into a $2 billion public company. Two professors proved that millions of people would rather learn from their laptop than sit in a lecture hall — and that employers would actually pay for the certificates. The company that made "I took an online course" a legitimate career move.
Founded
2012
HQ
Mountain View, California
Total Raised
$464 Million (pre-IPO)
Founder
Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller
Status
Public (NYSE: COUR)
Website
www.coursera.orgTHE ORIGIN STORY
Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller were both Stanford computer science professors who had been experimenting with putting their lectures online. When Ng's machine learning course attracted 100,000 students from around the world — more people than had ever taken any Stanford course in history — they realized something massive was happening.
They founded Coursera in 2012 to formalize the idea: partner with top universities, put their courses online, and give anyone in the world access to an elite education. It was one of the original "MOOC" (Massive Open Online Course) platforms alongside Udacity and edX.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Coursera partners with universities and companies to offer online courses, certificates, and degree programs. Individual learners can audit most courses for free, but pay for certificates ($49-$99 per course) or monthly subscriptions ($49-$79/month for Coursera Plus).
Enterprise revenue comes from Coursera for Business (companies pay per employee for training) and Coursera for Campus (universities license the platform). They also offer full online degrees from partner universities.
THE PRODUCTS
Coursera Plus (subscription, 7000+ courses), Professional Certificates (Google, Meta, IBM), Online Degrees (from partner universities), Coursera for Business (enterprise training), Coursera for Campus
HOW THEY GREW
Shift from individual course sales to subscription revenue (Coursera Plus). Grow enterprise sales — Coursera for Business is the highest-margin segment.
Expand the degree program portfolio, which generates the highest per-student revenue. Push into international markets where demand for affordable English-language education is enormous, especially India, Latin America, and Africa.
THE HARD PART
Completion rates for MOOCs are notoriously low — often under 10%. Convincing employers to value an online certificate as much as a traditional degree is an ongoing battle.
Competition from LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, edX, and Google's own certificates is intense. Universities are also increasingly building their own online programs, potentially cutting out the middleman.
MONEY TRAIL
Series A
2012 · Led by
$16M raised
Series B
2013 · Led by
$43M raised
Series D
2017 · Led by
$64M raised
Series F
2020 · Led by
$130M raised
IPO
2021 · Led by
$519M raised
WHO BACKED THEM
Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates, GSV Ventures, Learn Capital, International Finance Corporation, public market investors post-IPO
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