Accenture’s acquisition of ed-tech platform Udacity is part of a larger commitment to invest $1 billion over three years in improving upskilling prospects for its clients.
Udacity, an ed-tech platform headquartered in California, will be acquired by Accenture for an undisclosed sum. The move is part of Accenture’s larger plan to invest $1 billion over three years to improve upskilling options for its clients.
Accenture also launched LearnVantage, an upskilling platform, on Tuesday to attract clients who need technological learning and training services in technology, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI).
This acquisition and the launch of the LearnVantage platform come at a time when there is a growing demand for upskilling, particularly in the generative AI sector, throughout the global IT services business. This could represent a significant revenue opportunity for the world’s leading software outsourcing organizations.
Accenture announced on Wednesday that all 230 Udacity professionals will join the company’s staff. “The acquisition will bring to Accenture Udacity’s capabilities in integrating proprietary content, expert services, and scalable learning technology while bridging the gap between online education and workplace relevance,” Accenture said in a statement.
According to Mint, Sebastian Thrun launched Udacity in 2011, and it offers job-ready certification skills. It achieved unicorn status in 2015, following a $105 million Series D fundraising round. It provides AI and machine learning courses, and its clientele includes Google, Microsoft, IBM, and AT&T.
Udacity was previously in talks with Bollywood film producer and investor Ronnie Screwvala’s ed-tech firm UpGrad to sell its majority stake for $100 million, representing a significant value erosion as the ed-tech industry continues to struggle in the aftermath of the downturn at the world’s leading ed-tech firm, Byju’s.
The reduction in Udacity’s valuation reflects the overall health of the education technology business. “The impact of Byju’s crash on the ed-tech industry as a whole is determined by the stage of each company and the segment of ed-tech it serves. Edtech in India and China is not doing well these days. China has made policy adjustments, and India has faced hurdles as well,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, in an interview with Mint on January 14.
“From the COVID-19 epidemic to the present, funding has shifted from as much money as one could ask for at an extremely high value to considerably higher conservatism. No investor will currently invest in local content firms because language is no longer a differentiation, nor is content subject expertise. New startups lack distribution, making this one of the worst segments to be in—especially in ed-tech terms,” Maggioncalda remarked.
