Udemy Acquires CorpU to Expand Immersive Leadership Development Capabilities

CorpU’s cohort-based offering accelerates skills development and enables global customers to achieve scalable business outcomes

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Udemy, a leading destination for learning and teaching online, today announced it has acquired CorpU, an online leadership development platform that delivers cohort-based immersive learning experiences and access to world-class experts. The acquisition deepens Udemy’s learning offerings with CorpU’s immersive experiences to deliver transformational learning that fosters innovation, leadership, and business agility.

CorpU enables global companies like CVS Health, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Rite Aid to incorporate cohort-based learning in scalable, virtual environments with learning that can be tailored to support learners everywhere. CorpU helps foster individual and organizational growth by activating the collective intelligence of peers and the expert guidance of thought leaders from top universities including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professional Education, and University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. CorpU’s leadership training harnesses the value of group learning, executive and peer coaching, and experiential learning activities that tie back to business results.

“We’re committed to creating new possibilities for people and organizations everywhere by connecting them to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a changing world,” said Gregg Coccari, CEO of Udemy. “With Udemy’s real-world expert instructors and CorpU’s experienced professors and peer-to-peer learning capabilities, companies can build agility and resilience in teams to take on today’s toughest challenges. We believe that CorpU will allow Udemy to help companies go further in upskilling initiatives and deepen collaboration and leadership capabilities through immersive learning experiences.”

HR leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to quickly find and develop talent with the most in demand skills, yet 58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done, according to Gartner®. Gartner TalentNeuron™ data shows the total number of skills required for a single job has been increasing by 10% year-over-year since 2017.¹

“While leadership development is a critical business imperative, many companies struggle to effectively deliver facilitated and immersive training virtually,” said Alan Todd, Founder and General Manager, CorpU. “As a leading learning marketplace focused on innovation through online learning, Udemy is the ideal partner for CorpU. Together, we have the opportunity to help organizations everywhere prepare for the future and provide leaders with the tools, knowledge, and capabilities to propel their businesses forward. We look forward to realizing our vision for the future of leadership development with Udemy.”

“We believe the pandemic demonstrated the need for a new approach to workforce development,” said Greg Brown, President of Udemy Business. “As a result of this fast-paced change coupled with a shift to hybrid work environments, businesses are actively searching for the best ways to develop leaders and employees in a global, scalable, and accessible way. CorpU is a powerful addition to strengthen our Udemy Business offering for organizations by elevating leadership development capabilities and helping customers achieve critical business outcomes.”

With solutions to address all levels of leadership, CorpU programs offer digestible microlearning modules from premiere universities facilitated by global experts. CorpU’s AI-powered analytics, social learning capabilities, and real-world application opportunities help ensure increased engagement and improved knowledge retention.

“Developing leaders and new leadership skills are top priorities in every company,” said Josh Bersin, CEO of Josh Bersin Company and global industry analyst. “The combination of Udemy’s marketplace model and CorpU’s immersive training approach has the opportunity to bring a new, disruptive approach to leadership development around the world.”

To learn more about how Udemy and CorpU are joining together to transform leadership development, please visit here.

^{​​ 1}Gartner®. (2021, February 4) Gartner HR Research Finds 58% of the Workforce Will Need New Skill Sets to Do Their Jobs Successfully [Press Release].

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About Udemy

Udemy's mission is to create new possibilities for people and organizations everywhere by connecting them to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a changing world. The Udemy marketplace platform, with thousands of up-to-date courses in dozens of languages, provides the tools learners, instructors, and enterprises need to achieve their goals and reach their full potential. Millions of people learn on Udemy from real-world experts in topics ranging from programming and data science to leadership and team building. For companies, Udemy Business offers an employee training and development platform with subscription access to thousands of courses, learning analytics, as well as the ability to host and distribute their own content. Udemy Business customers include Apple, Glassdoor, On24, The World Bank, and Volkswagen. Udemy is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco with offices around the world. Udemy investors include Insight Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures), Norwest Venture Partners, Stripes, and Benesse Holdings.

About CorpU

CorpU provides online, cohort-based leadership development programs that foster collaboration, drive impact, and accelerate organizational growth. Programs are designed and facilitated by top faculty from leading universities. CorpU’s AI-powered analytics measure participant understanding, alignment, buy-in, and impact throughout all components of the learning experience. Since its founding in 1997, CorpU has delivered courses to over 16,000 cohorts, reaching over 160,000 participants around the globe. Visit www.corpu.com for more information.