Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., gestures as she speaks during a group session on the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and political leaders attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from 23 to 26 January.
Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft has acquired TakeLessons, a start-up with a website where people book paid online and face-to-face classes on various topics, a Microsoft spokesman confirmed on Friday. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The move demonstrates that Microsoft remains committed to providing people with opportunities to find educational content and not just in the business environment. More than 6% of Microsoft’s revenue comes from LinkedIn and LinkedIn generates some of its revenue from premium subscriptions that include access to LinkedIn Learning, through which subscribers can complete online courses.
LinkedIn is different from TakeLessons because it offers live training for individual instructor classes and group classes. While LinkedIn Learning specializes in content on leadership, sales, and other business topics, TakeLessons offers courses on many consumer-oriented subjects, including music, languages, and the arts.
“TakeLessons is a unique and trusted online marketplace that connects diverse, qualified and verified instructors with students of all ages pursuing their goals,” a Microsoft spokesman told CNBC in an email. “This acquisition responds to the growing demand for personalized hybrid opportunities and expands our product offering to consumers of TakeLessons, a leading online learning platform.”
TakeLessons was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego. Investors include Crosslink Capital, Moore Venture Partners, SoftTech VC and Triangle Peak Partners.
“With the help and noise of the exceptional TakeLessons team, hundreds of millions of people from all over the world have visited TakeLessons and taken many, many millions of minutes of lessons: learning everything from STEM to farce, guitar riding, parkour, tennis, singing, and yes, even reinforcing Excel macros, ”wrote Steven Cox, founder and CEO of TakeLessons, in a LinkedIn post.
The coronavirus pandemic has benefited online learning. Covid “accelerated the market for e-learning solutions,” Coursera said earlier this year when it was listed on the stock exchange. And the number of hours dedicated to LinkedIn Learning to double year-over-year in the fourth quarter, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts at a conference call in January.
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