In IPO Mode
After defying pandemic, IPO market is bracing for another busy year
Established in 2012, the California-headquartered tech firm follows a growth strategy focused on continued investment in enterprise channels, ensuring stable adoption and conversion of the freemium offerings, while also adding more courses and further expanding the brand and leaner base.
Upskilling
A statement submitted by the company to the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week said the classroom-based learning model might not be sufficient to meet the rapidly-increasing demand for skills required to perform effectively in today’s workforce. “While serving certain learners well, the in-person experience may fail to meet the needs of learners in more remote areas and non-traditional learners who need access to education and upskilling the most, both domestically and internationally,” it stated.
The skill-development courses being offered by the company assumes significance considering the widespread job losses during the pandemic, catalyzed by the ongoing automation drive in an increasingly digital economy. Coursera operates a unique platform that connects students, academicians, and institutions across the world, supported by a network of 200 partner institutions. The offerings mainly include guided projects and fully online degrees, covering popular areas like machine learning, language learning, and cloud computing.
Tailwind
The business got a major boost after people who are out of work signed up for the learning programs offered by Coursera to re-skill themselves for pursuing new opportunities. As a result, the user base witnessed an unusually sharp growth during the pandemic.
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The Coursera platform had more than 77 million registered learners at the end of 2020, while 4,000 academic institutions and about 2,000 business clients used it for skill development. Last year, the company generated revenues of $293.5 million, representing a 59% annual growth. Meanwhile, its loss widened to $66.8 million or $1.80 per share from $46.7 million or $1.45 per share.
The Cons
The bottom-line will likely remain in the negative territory in the coming quarters, with continuing headwinds from the COVID crisis hampering the recovery process. It needs to be noted that the online learning market is still at a nascent stage, which makes it vulnerable to macroeconomic disruption.