Teachable turned the internet into a classroom anyone could own. Ankur Nagpal built it in 2013 for experts who wanted to sell courses under their own name instead of on someone else's marketplace. It needed only about $15 million of venture money to get there. Hotmart bought it in 2020 for a reported $250 million. Since then rivals have caught up, and a 2025 price overhaul that roughly tripled some creators' bills sent long-time users looking for the exit.
Founded
2013
HQ
New York, NY, USA
Total Raised
About $15 million
Founder
Ankur Nagpal
Status
Acquired (Hotmart, 2020)
Verified Oct 2026
Website
teachable.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Ankur Nagpal had already made over $1 million as a teenager building personality-quiz apps on Facebook, back when developers kept the ad revenue. He started a course-selling tool called Fedora in New York in fall 2013 and launched it publicly in February 2014, aimed at instructors who wanted to sell courses from their own websites without a developer.
Early on it even hosted an unofficial version of Sam Altman's Y Combinator startup course. Fedora was later renamed Teachable, and the product took off with creators who needed a professional storefront.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
SaaS plus transaction fees. Teachable charges monthly subscriptions across Basic, Pro, and Business tiers.
Lower tiers carry a transaction fee on every sale. Higher tiers drop the fee to zero.
Either way, Teachable collects recurring revenue while creators handle their own marketing and content.
THE PRODUCTS
Teachable course builder, coaching products, digital downloads, Teachable Payments, affiliate center, and student analytics dashboard.
HOW THEY GREW
Creator-led word of mouth. Teachable encouraged successful creators to share their revenue numbers publicly.
When someone sees that a fitness coach made $200K selling a course, they sign up. The platform became its own marketing engine.
An affiliate program rewarded existing creators for referrals and kept acquisition costs low.
THE HARD PART
Competition intensified fast. Thinkific pushed zero transaction fees.
Podia simplified the product further. Kajabi moved upmarket with better marketing tools.
Teachable had to defend its brand while rivals undercut it on price and features. Under Hotmart it then made things harder for itself.
A pricing overhaul rolled out in 2025 left some long-time creators facing bills nearly three times higher, and in 2026 it replaced its old plans entirely, scrapping the free plan. Some creators who had been there five to ten years left.
MONEY TRAIL
Seed
2014 · Led by Angels incl. Naval Ravikant, Winklevoss Capital
$1M raised
Series A
2017 · Led by Accomplice, Naval Ravikant, Learn Capital
$4M raised
Series A extension
2018 · Led by Accomplice
$4M raised
WHO BACKED THEM
Fedora, as it was first called, raised a $1 million seed in 2014 from angels including Naval and Kamal Ravikant, Winklevoss Capital, Billy Draper and AppLovin founder Adam Foroughi. As Teachable it raised $4 million in January 2017, led by earlier backers Accomplice, Naval Ravikant and Learn Capital, and another $4 million in 2018.
Total funding was about $15 million. Brazil's Hotmart bought the company in March 2020 for a reported $250 million, at roughly $60 million in annual recurring revenue.
Related Profiles
Companies
Coursera
Both platforms serve online learners but from opposite ends. Coursera partners with universities and corporations. Teachable gives independent creators direct control. The contrast shows two different bets on who produces the most valuable online education.
Udemy
Udemy is a marketplace where learners browse and buy. Teachable is a white-label builder where creators own the relationship. The platforms serve similar markets with fundamentally different structures — one favors discovery, the other favors creator brand-building.
Head-to-Head
Compare Teachable vs another company.