UK MOOC platform, FutureLearn, announced today that the SEEK Group (ASX: SEK) will invest £50m to become a joint, 50% owner of the social learning platform, alongside The Open University. The deal is thought to be the largest ever private-sector EdTech investment in Europe.
FutureLearn was launched in 2012 by The Open University and partners with over a quarter of the world’s top universities and organisations to offer MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) as well as MOOC-based postgraduate diplomas and certificates and fully online degrees, all designed around social learning. Over the past 6 years the platform has seen rapid growth reaching over nine million learners worldwide.
The Open University’s Vice Chancellor Mary Kellett believes the new partnership to be "a fantastic opportunity to change more lives around the globe through flexible lifelong learning." She says “Our partnership with SEEK and the investment in FutureLearn will take our unique mission to make education open for all into new parts of the world. Education improves lives, communities and economies and is a truly global product, with no tariffs on ideas.”
The SEEK Group is a market leader in the creation and management of online education and employment businesses, and is well-established across Australia, New Zealand, China, South East Asia, Brazil and Mexico. According to SEEK Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Bassat, FutureLearn is "a key enabler for education at scale", helping millions of people to up-skill and re-skill to adapt to rapidly changing labour markets. FutureLearn CEO Simon Nelson confirmed the investment will enable FutureLearn to unlock their true potential and extend their global reach and impact.
Read more about this announcement in FutureLearn's blog post or browse FutureLearn courses here.
