Desire2Learn Raises $80 Million In Funding

Sites include desire2learn.com . Published on September 16th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

The online education space seems to be brimming with confidence and no shortage of investors to pump cash into start-ups looking to cash-in on this growing industry. And if you want proof look no further than Desire2Learn; the Canadian-based educational start-up has just managed to raise a staggering $80 million in VC funding.

The Series A venture round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and OMERS Ventures. Both backers believe that the online education space is ripe for profits and Desire2Learn is poised well to take advantage. Desire2Learn has a strong space in online higher education, particularly as it relates to the cloud. The company also provides learning tools for many Fortune 1000 companies. But perhaps the biggest opportunity lies in the form of K-12 education; a sector which many believe is worth in excess of $1 trillion a year globally.

Desire2Learn was founded back in 1999; since then it has steadily built up a solid mix of clientele which include 700 clients and over 8 million learners. The fresh injection of capital will go towards broadening the platform and promoting the company’s offerings, including the newly added SaaS learning tools.

The $80 million will also help Desire2Learn fend of competition in the form of Blackboard. The latter company has been gaining traction in the last few years and is now a heavy player in the online education space.