GO1 doubles its valuation to $2.8 billion after $140 million raise

Brisbane-based online corporate training marketplace GO1 has seen its valuation double to US$2 billion (A$2.8bn) after raising an additional US$100 million.

The raise saw newly created Sydney edtech investment fund Five Sigma sign on as a new investor, with existing backers, including AirTree Ventures, Blue Cloud Ventures, Madrona, Salesforce Ventures, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 chipping in once again.

Previous investors includes Larsen Ventures, Scott Shleifer and John Curtius from Tiger Global, Steve Baxter’s TEN13, Microsoft’s venture fund M12, SEEK and Y Combinator.

The new capital is earmarked for the edtech’s goal of reaching billion workers with upskilling, reskilling and knowledge lessons. GO1 previously raised US$200 million (A$273m) in a Series D in July last year. The business has now raised around US$400 million.

North America is now Go1’s largest market, and it is expanding in Europe following the acquisition of Coorpacademy, which delivers French and German language content.

It expanded its reach in Southeast Asia with offices in Malaysia and Singapore, and expanded its content offering with to use 5 million users with content from Pluralsight and Harvard Business Publishing.

CEO Andrew Barnes said the business has expanded its capabilities and offerings to improve access to education for users.

“These recent investments allow Go1 to build on that momentum to explore new content and resources, enabling our platform to meet the needs of every organisation and employee, and brings us closer to our goal of supporting one billion learners globally,” he said.

Five Sigma founding partner  Peter Mobbs said: “Digital transformation and the changing world of work have amplified the need for companies to invest in their people and uplevel their capabilities. Go1 is uniquely suited to help companies tackle this challenge with a comprehensive solution for workplace learning content. We’re proud to have led this latest financing round.”

Madrona MD S. Somasegar said the platform serves the needs of both employers looking to retain and upskill their talent and employees seeking training for their professional and personal development.

“Go1’s successful expansion into the US and other global markets means they not only serve global corporations but are uniquely suited for the far flung remote workforces of the next decade,” he said.