Degreed Valuation, Funding & Investors
Degreed is valued at $1.4B as of April 2021.
Last Degreed valuation
$1.4B
Series D · Apr 2021
Last Degreed funding round
$51M
Undisclosed stage · Feb 2023
Cumulative funding Degreed raised
$390M
across 9 funding rounds
Key investors in Degreed
GSV Ventures
Signal Peak Ventures
Jump Capital
Owl Ventures
Rethink Education
BYU Cougar Capital
About Degreed
Degreed is a Pleasanton-headquartered learning experience platform that helps companies build employee skill profiles. It aggregates content from learning management systems, courses, videos, articles, books, and podcasts. The platform matches users to internal projects, gigs, and job openings based on skills data. Degreed supports career mobility through personalized learning paths. Launched in 2012, it serves global enterprises seeking continuous professional development.
Founded
2012
HQ
San Francisco, CAWebsite
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Valuation
$1.4B (Apr 2021)
Degreed Valuation
Degreed is currently valued at $1.4B, based on its Series D in April 2021.
The $153M round was led by Riverwood Capital and Sapphire Ventures.
Degreed's valuation has grown 70x from $20M at its Series A in March 2015 to $1.4B in April 2021, across 2 priced rounds.
Degreed valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2021 | Series D | $1.4B |
| Mar 2015 | Series A | $20M |
Degreed Funding History
Degreed has raised a total of $390M across 9 funding rounds.
Degreed's first fundraising round was a $7M seed round in December 2014. The most recent completed round was a $51M undisclosed-stage round in February 2023.
Degreed funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2023 | Undisclosed stage | Dragon Capital | $51M | - | - |
| Apr 2021 | Series D | Riverwood Capital (lead); Sapphire Ventures (lead) | $153M | $1.4B | Degreed, an upskilling platform that operates an online service allowing users to integrate and manage career development and learning resources with real-time skill progression insights, raised $153 million in Series D equity funding on April 13, 2021, co-led by Sapphire Ventures and Riverwood Capital. The round valued the company at $1.4 billion, with total funding including a $30 million credit facility reaching $183 million. Additional participants included Signal Peak Ventures, Owl Ventures, GSV Ventures, Founders Circle, Contour Investment Partners, Section Partners, Alliance Bernstein, and new investor Firework Ventures. Under outgoing CEO Chris McCarthy, Degreed achieved compound annual revenue growth of 76% and an 800% increase in enterprise value during his three-and-a-half-year tenure, more than doubling its active user base and expanding its team by 50% to 600 employees across six continents in the prior year. The proceeds are earmarked for global expansion, strategic acquisitions, product development strengthening, and data infrastructure improvements. Dan Levin, former COO of Box, succeeded McCarthy as CEO, with McCarthy transitioning to a strategic advisory role and board position. This Series D pushed Degreed's overall equity funding near $300 million, building on prior rounds including a $32 million Series A in 2015 led by Signal Peak Ventures and a 2016 Series B led by Jump Capital. Early backing came from Kaplan via its 2013 Edtech Accelerator with $150,000 in convertible debt and a $1.8 million seed round. Degreed has since pursued growth through acquisitions, such as Learn In in June 2022, and a Series D-II round of $50.94 million in February 2023 at the same $1.4 billion valuation. |
| Jun 2020 | Series C | Owl Ventures (lead); Benz Capital | $48M | - | - |
| Jun 2019 | Series C | Jump Capital; Owl Ventures; Signal Peak Ventures; AllianceBernstein; GSV Ventures | $35M | - | Degreed, a San Francisco-based lifelong learning platform founded in 2012, raised $75 million in a Series C2 round in June 2019, consisting of $35 million in equity from existing investors Owl Ventures, Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, and GSV Ventures (listed as GSV Accelerate), plus new investor AllianceBernstein, with the remainder as venture debt from AllianceBernstein. The funding aimed to support international growth, develop analytical services for corporate clients, build skills products, machine learning, data science capabilities, and enhance user experience and skills measurement insights. To date, the company had raised about $140 million total. Degreed served over 220 corporate clients including Airbnb, Boeing, Mastercard, and Unilever, and offered individual certifications for $129 or unlimited membership for $399. Around the funding time, Degreed reported doubling its revenue year-over-year and tripling its sales, engineering, and client experience teams while in growth mode and not yet profitable. One-fifth of revenue came from outside the U.S. The prior year, Degreed merged with chief competitor Pathgather, adding 100 new clients and boosting its Net Promoter Score. A March 2019 partnership with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning created a customized learning platform combining content and Degreed's UX. Degreed competed in the corporate learning space against players like Coursera, NovoEd, and Udacity shifting toward enterprise. CEO McCarthy expressed confidence in recession resilience, positioning Degreed as a technology investment aiding companies in identifying needed skills. Later rounds included a $50.94M Series D-II in February 2023, with total funding reaching $436.96M over 21 rounds, and acquisitions like Learn In in 2022. |
| Mar 2018 | Series C | Jump Capital (lead); Owl Ventures (lead); Signal Peak Ventures (lead); Contour Venture Partners | $42M | - | Degreed, an online learning experience platform (LXP), raised $42 million in a Series C funding round on approximately March 6, 2018, co-led by Jump Capital, Owl Ventures, and Signal Peak Ventures, with participation from Founders Circle Capital and existing investors like GSV Acceleration Fund. This brought the company's total funding to $75 million at that time, following prior Seed ($1.8M), Series A, and Series B rounds. The funds were earmarked for expanding Degreed Skill Certification, described as the world’s first system to certify and rate any skill, enhancing machine learning and analytics for client skill development insights, and supporting overall growth after three years of 100% year-over-year growth, including adding 50 new clients and 1 million licensed users in six months. Degreed's platform integrates diverse learning resources such as corporate training, online courses, videos, podcasts, and subject matter experts to help enterprises measure, track, and validate learning from various sources. It targets corporate clients seeking to upskill employees in areas like customer service, data analysis, and strategic planning, positioning itself against competitors like Coursera, NovoEd, and Udacity in the evolving corporate learning market. The company reported serving over 220 clients including Airbnb, Boeing, Mastercard, and Unilever by mid-2019, with offerings like skill certifications for $129 and unlimited memberships for $399. Later rounds included a $75M Series C2 in 2019 (part equity, part debt) bringing total funding to about $140M, and a $153M Series D in April 2021 at $1.4B valuation, achieving unicorn status with over 350 customers and 7 million users. |
| Aug 2016 | Series B | GSV Ventures (lead); Jump Capital; Benz Capital; Signal Peak Ventures; Rethink Education | $25M | - | Degreed, an education technology company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Salt Lake City with offices in San Francisco and Amsterdam, developed a platform to discover, track, and quantify all forms of professional and lifelong learning from any source. On August 16, 2016, it closed its Series B funding round at $25 million, including a $3.5 million investment from GSV Acceleration, combined with prior investments from Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, and Rethink Education. GSV Acceleration, led by Deborah Quazzo (an early angel investor and board member), focuses on education and talent development technology companies like ClassDojo, Clever, Pluralsight, and Turnitin. The capital was intended to fuel Degreed's growth and enhance its comprehensive learning and skills verification platform, advancing its mission to transform how people learn and organizations train and develop talent. CEO and co-founder David Blake highlighted the alignment with GSV's goals and resources. Degreed continued raising capital in subsequent rounds, including a Series C in March 2018 ($42 million), a Series C2 in 2019 ($75 million with $35 million equity from Owl Ventures, Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, GSV Accelerate, and new investor AllianceBernstein, plus venture debt), and a Series D in April 2021 ($153 million co-led by Sapphire Ventures and Riverwood Capital at a $1.4 billion valuation, with total funding including equity and debt reaching $183 million and participation from Signal Peak Ventures, Owl Ventures, GSV Ventures, and others). By 2019, Degreed served over 220 corporate clients like Airbnb, Boeing, Mastercard, and Unilever, offering 1,500 certificates and credentials, with individual pricing at $129 per skill certification or $399 for unlimited membership; it reported doubling revenue year-over-year but remained unprofitable while expanding teams. |
| Jan 2016 | Series B | Jump Capital (lead); Elevate Innovation Partners; BYU Cougar Capital; Signal Peak Ventures; Rethink Education; GSV Ventures | $21M | - | Degreed, an edtech company offering a learner-first platform that enables discovery, curation, sharing, tracking, and valuation of all forms of professional and lifelong learning from internal portals, external vendors, and over 1,200 free or low-cost informal resources in a unified system, raised $21 million in a Series B round on January 5-6, 2016. Jump Capital led the investment, with participation from Signal Peak Ventures, Rethink Education, Deborah Quazzo, and existing investors including BYU Cougar Capital, Elevate Innovation Partners, and GSV Ventures. This followed a $7 million Series A in April 2015, bringing total funding to nearly $30 million. The round funded expansion of sales, client success, account management, engineering, marketing teams, and international capabilities to serve larger clients with global divisions. Degreed's growth accelerated in 2015, expanding from 3 to nearly 100 enterprise clients, including Fortune 10, 20, and 50 companies in financial services and technology, and growing headcount from 20 to 100 employees across San Francisco and Salt Lake City offices. All revenue derived from enterprise licenses, with rapid client and deal size increases noted. The platform's focus on skills-based recognition beyond traditional degrees differentiated it in edtech, earning awards like LPI finalist for Learning Provider of the Year. Investors highlighted Degreed's unique approach to transforming corporate learning and professional development. Shortly after, Degreed used Series B proceeds for its first acquisition of European learning company Gibbon. |
| Mar 2015 | Series A | Signal Peak Ventures (lead); BYU Cougar Capital; Album VC; GSV Ventures; Chris Eyre | $9M | $20M | Degreed is an education technology platform founded in 2012 that helps individuals and organizations discover, track, and measure all forms of learning, including online courses, books, conferences, and professional development. The company was founded by David Blake, Eric Sharp, and David Wiley and had previously raised $1.8 million in seed funding from angel investors including Mark Cuban and Deborah Quazzo. In April 2015, Degreed raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Signal Peak Ventures, with participation from Album VC, GSV Ventures, and other investors. The round valued the company at $19.66 million post-money. The capital was intended to drive product development and demand generation as the company expanded its enterprise offering, helping organizations recognize and reward employees for continuous learning. By the Series B round in January 2016, the company had grown significantly, expanding from three to nearly 100 clients including Fortune 10, 20, and 50 companies in financial services and technology sectors. |
| Dec 2014 | Seed | Mick Hagen; GSV Ventures; Chris Eyre | $7M | - | - |
Who has invested in Degreed?
16 investors have backed Degreed across its funding rounds, including GSV Ventures, Signal Peak Ventures, Jump Capital, Owl Ventures, Rethink Education and BYU Cougar Capital.
Lead investors include Riverwood Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Owl Ventures, Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures and 1 other investor.
Degreed Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, UT | 5 | Lead | Mar 2015 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 5 | Lead | Dec 2014 | |
| Chicago, IL | 4 | Lead | Jan 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | Lead | Mar 2018 | |
| Park City, UT | 2 | Participant | Aug 2016 | |
| Provo, UT | 2 | Participant | Mar 2015 | |
| New York City, NY | 2 | Participant | Jan 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 2 | Participant | Dec 2014 | |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Participant | Jan 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Lead | Apr 2021 | |
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><rect fill="%23e5e7eb" width="20" height="20" rx="4"/></svg>){kind=small} Mick Hagen | United States | 1 | Participant | Dec 2014 |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Participant | Jun 2019 | |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 1 | Participant | Mar 2015 | |
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Degreed
Degreed has acquired 4 companies to date.
Last acquisition by Degreed was on June 23rd 2022. Degreed acquired Learn In for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Degreed
| Description | Learn In is a UK-based upskilling platform providing sabbatical programs with online courses and degrees in data science, software engineering, and digital marketing. It partners with universities like University of Edinburgh and employers such as HSBC for employee reskilling. London-headquartered since 2019, Learn In supports mid-career transitions amid workplace evolution. | Adepto is a workforce management platform founded in 2013 in Brisbane, Australia, unifying internal and external talent in a total talent ecosystem. The company supports global operations with tools for contingent workforce management, compliance, and analytics. Adepto serves enterprises across industries with vendor management systems and contractor onboarding. | Pathgather is a learning experience platform serving enterprises with personalized workforce development tools. Deployed by organizations including Liberty Mutual and McKesson, it curates internal and external content into tailored learning paths. Acquired by Degreed in 2021, Pathgather integrates with HR systems to track skill progression and drive employee upskilling amid digital transformation demands. | - |
| HQ Country | |  | |  |
| HQ City | San Francisco, CA | London | New York City, NY | - |
| Deal Date | 23 Jun 2022 | 11 Dec 2019 | 20 Jun 2018 | 23 Mar 2016 |
| Valuation | undisclosed | undisclosed | undisclosed | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | ||||
| EV/EBITDA | ||||
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Degreed Competitors
Degreed competitors include listed companies like Freee and ATOSS Software, and private ones like BetterUp, Anaconda, Culture Amp and Phenom.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | Private | $100M | - | $4.7B | 47.0x | |
 Japan | Publicly listed | $214M | $6M | $1.5B | 4.8x | |
| Austin, TX | Private | $150M | - | $1.5B | 10.0x | |
 Melbourne | Private | - | - | $1.5B | - | |
| Philadelphia, PA | Private | - | - | $1.3B | - | |
 Germany | Publicly listed | $218M | $84M | $1.7B | 6.4x |
Degreed Public Comps
Degreed is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Coursera, Freee, Afya, ATOSS Software, Youdao, Hilan, Alef Education, American Public Education, Docebo and Teamshares.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $758M | ($49M) | 0.5x | 0.3x | (7.7x) | 2.7x | |||
| $214M | $6M | 6.3x | 4.8x | 237.7x | 65.4x | |||
| $719M | $289M | 2.3x | 2.2x | 5.6x | 5.0x | |||
| $218M | $84M | 7.0x | 6.4x | 18.2x | 17.1x | |||
| $881M | $29M | 2.1x | 2.0x | 63.1x | 33.8x | |||
| $993M | $154M | 1.8x | - | 11.9x | - | |||
| $210M | $150M | 8.2x | 7.8x | 11.5x | 11.1x | |||
| $649M | $64M | 1.1x | 1.1x | 11.6x | 7.8x | |||
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Common questions about Degreed
| When was Degreed founded? | Degreed was founded in 2012. |
| Where is Degreed headquartered? | Degreed is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is Degreed publicly listed? | No, Degreed is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is Degreed's valuation? | Degreed was last valued at $1.4B in its Series D in April 2021. |
| How much funding has Degreed raised? | Degreed has raised $390M across 9 funding rounds. |
| What was Degreed's last funding round? | Degreed's last funding round was a $51M undisclosed-stage round in February 2023. |
| Who are Degreed's investors? | Degreed's investors include Signal Peak Ventures, GSV Ventures, Jump Capital, Owl Ventures, Benz Capital, BYU Cougar Capital, Rethink Education, Chris Eyre, Elevate Innovation Partners, Riverwood Capital and 6 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to Degreed? | Companies comparable to Degreed include BetterUp, Freee, Anaconda, Culture Amp, Phenom and ATOSS Software. |
| How many companies has Degreed acquired? | Degreed has acquired 4 companies, including Learn In, Adepto, Pathgather and Gibbon. |
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