Source: aithority.com
Leading edutech platform Coursera has raised $130 million as part of the Series F funding round. This financing would enable Coursera to bring quality and highly contextual learning material to aspiring professionals in the forward specializations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, NVIDIA and UF announced a strategic alliance to develop AI and Data Science education facilities for the State of Florida. The partnership includes $70 million joint funding towards building the world’s fastest AI Supercomputer for higher education.
Coursera’s latest $130 million funding further bolsters the rapid movement towards research and education-driven approach to sustain Data Science as a key specialization in the Industrial Revolution 4.0.
The latest funding brings the company’s cash balance to more than $300 million. The round was led by NEA and joined by existing investors Kleiner Perkins, SEEK Group, Learn Capital, SuRo Capital Corp, and G Squared.
Coursera, along with its community of partners, has been at the forefront of preparing individuals and institutions for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The ongoing pandemic has further accelerated the rate of digital transformation among companies. The jobs of the future will be powered by a highly-skilled and distributed workforce, collaborating virtually to deliver value.
Coursera remains committed toward bringing on-demand educational content and assets to millions of learners, thousands of campuses and companies, and hundreds of governments. The company understands its role of staying well-resourced to serve the world at this particularly challenging time. It confirmed using the funds to double down on our product and engineering efforts, expand our job-relevant catalog, and further grow global presence.
Coursera has witnessed a huge demand for two of their COVID-focused initiatives —
- Campus Response Initiative to help universities teach impacted students; and
- Workforce Recovery Initiative to help governments reskill unemployed workers.
The Digital Skillset is Missing its Mark in the Data-Driven Economy
In a recent report, NTT Data has revealed the glaring holes in the talent pool pertaining to the data science industry. Different industry verticals are plagued by complex challenges, all stemming from the lack of analytical skillset among the professionals. Industry-driven learning, traning and development platforms are an important cog in this machinery, looking at the current and future data trends.
Mapping Your Digital Transformation Journey- Stages Of Digital Maturity
The world is facing unprecedented economic disruption, and the need to develop skills for a digital future is even more apparent now. Coursera and other edutech firms should continue to innovate and bring quality learning material to democratize AI education for all.
