The company, which launched just over two years ago directly to consumers, has since amassed hundreds of thousands of users who use the platform to track their lifelong learning. In 2014, the company launched its enterprise product, which already serves companies with as many as 300,000+ employees to smaller businesses with 50 employees.
Signal Peak Ventures led the round with Peak Ventures, Deborah Quazzo of GSV Advisors, and a host of other participating internal investors. Primarily, the funding will be used to drive product development and demand generation as the company seeks to expand its offering of learning solutions for individuals as well as the enterprise marketplace–which could be a boon for informal learning advocates.
“Degreed’s expansion into the enterprise is extremely important in removing the stigma of learning as a strict function of academia,” said Brandon Tidwell, managing director of Signal Peak Ventures. “Degreed offers a powerful, measurable learning portal for any organization that wants to recognize and reward their employees for a life of continued learning. We’re thrilled to partner with Degreed as we truly believe they are creating what will become the standard of learning and skill measurement worldwide.”
Prior to this financing, Degreed raised a $1.8 million seed round from angel investors including Mark Cuban, Deborah Quazzo, and Mike Levinthal. The company was also named a “Top 5 Cool Education Company” by Gartner in 2014.
Though Blake says that the company has no plans to become a Prior Learning Assessment platform for higher education institutions at this time, Degreed seeks to leave a large impact on the learning ecosystem regardless.
“Right now, you ask anyone, “Tell me about your education,” and they tell you their degree,” Blake reiterated. “In the future, we believe that answer to that question will be what skills they have verified on Degreed.”
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