Udemy & AltMBA Founders Launch New EdTech Venture

In 2009, Gagan Biyani, a co-founder of Udemy, initially attempted to promote online education through live instruction. However, he found that the primary desire among potential learners was for an online resource offering content they could access at their own speed, at any time and from any location. Consequently, he shifted his focus, and Udemy evolved into what is now known as a massive open online course provider, or MOOC.

Following these developments, Biyani departed from Udemy, established a food-related business with a team of 200 individuals, subsequently closed that venture, and took a period of leave. He is now revisiting the concept he pioneered in 2009: live, online courses.

Biyani recently informed TechCrunch that he is collaborating with Wes Kao, the co-founder of AltMBA, an online, cohort-based leadership program, to launch a new edtech company. This company will integrate both of their areas of expertise, concentrating on live, cohort-based learning. The two individuals, who grew up as friends in the same town, reconnected after Biyani’s sabbatical, recognizing a shared interest in education. Kao’s experience in developing an online course with a completion rate exceeding 95% demonstrated the effectiveness of this learning model, leading them to form a company together.

The company will specialize in cohort-based learning, combining both live and asynchronous elements. As it is currently in a preliminary, undisclosed phase, the founders have not yet determined a company name. In lieu of a dedicated website, they are utilizing a Notion landing page. Update: The company has filed documentation with the SEC, revealing that funding has been secured under the name “Didactic,” an Austin-based corporation. 

Biyani explained that the startup’s core objective is to establish a platform where anyone can create and offer their own courses. Kao emphasized that course creation typically requires a team of over a dozen people – including teaching assistants and community moderators – making it a complex undertaking. She aims to simplify and broaden access to this process.

“My goal is to empower more professionals and specialists to share their expertise,” she stated. “And to eliminate the uncertainties surrounding community building.”

From the outset, the company will concentrate on providing the necessary production support for instructors, with plans to eventually introduce a marketplace where students can browse a directory of available classes.

“We want to make course creation as straightforward as using Substack,” Biyani said, referencing the well-known newsletter platform. Like Substack, the company’s revenue model is based on the success of its instructors, taking a percentage of each student’s subscription fee.

The company is entering a competitive market. CampusWire recently announced a pivot to offering course creation tools for professors, MasterClass features courses taught by celebrities, and Teachable enables anyone to develop and sell their own courses, among other options.

However, Biyani identifies their primary competition as instructors who have already independently created courses. The company intends to attract these creators by offering tools to effectively manage their student base.

Ultimately, success in this market will depend on the startup’s strategy, product quality, and the caliber of instructors it attracts. Based on their initial vision, the duo has secured $4.3 million in funding, led by First Round Capital. Additional investors include Naval Ravikant, Sahil Lavingia, Li Jin, Arlan Hamilton, and co-founders from Lambda School, Outschool, Superhuman, and Udemy.

The impressive list of investors, particularly at this early stage, indicates continued growth and interest in the edtech sector. Lavingia stated that he committed to investing immediately, even without experiencing the product firsthand.

“Gagan’s reputation alone was sufficient for me,” he said. “I’ve been following him on Twitter for a year or two and would support any venture he undertakes based on his insights.”

Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital noted that Kao has been a mentor within the Backstage network for some time and added that “the conditions are ideal for Wes and Gagan to succeed.”