Lynda.com

lynda.com
lynda.com company logo
Type of site
 Private
Founded 1995 (1995)
Headquarters Carpinteria, California, U.S.
Owner Microsoft
Founder(s) Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin[1]
Key people Eric Robison, CEO
Industry Online services
Online education
Online publishing
Online training
Products Online training library
Revenue US$100 million (2013)[1]
Employees 500+ (2014)
Website lynda.com

lynda.com is an American online education company offering thousands of video courses in software, creative, and business skills. Founded in 1995,[2] the company produces video tutorials taught by industry experts. Members have unlimited access to watch the videos, which are primarily educational. On April 9, 2015, LinkedIn announced its purchase of lynda.com for $1.5 billion.[3][4] Based in Carpinteria, California, lynda.com has more than 500 employees worldwide, and offers instruction in English as well as German, French, and Spanish through its branded division, video2brain.

History

lynda.com was founded in 1995 in Ojai, California, as online support for the books and classes of Lynda Weinman, a special effects animator and multimedia professor who founded a digital arts school with her husband, artist Bruce Heavin.[5]

In 2002, they began offering courses online. By 2004, there were 100 courses, and in 2008, the company began producing and publishing documentaries on creative leaders, artists, and entrepreneurs.

In 2013, lynda.com received its very first outside investment, raising $103 million in growth equity from Accel Partners and Spectrum Equity, with additional contributions from Meritech Capital Partners.[6]

On January 14, 2015, lynda.com announced it had raised $186 million in financing, led by investment group TPG Capital.[7]

In early 2016 Lynda.com began to broadcast courses on their Apple TV application.

Acquisitions

In February, 2013, lynda.com acquired video2brain, an Austrian-based provider of online classes in web design and programming, available in German, French, Spanish, and English.[8]

On April 7, 2014, lynda.com purchased Canadian startup Compilr, provider of an online editor and sandbox.[9]

On April 9, 2015, LinkedIn Corp. announced its intention to buy lynda.com in a deal valued at $1.5 billion, which officially closed on May 14, 2015.[10] The site is now branded as "Lynda.com® A LinkedIn Company".[11]

On June 13, 2016, Microsoft announced it will acquire Lynda.com's parent company LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 8, 2016.[12][13][14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lynda.com Lands $103 Million in Biggest Education Financing". Bloomberg. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  2. ↑ "Lynda.com Founder: I Was Educating Online Before Online Education Was Cool – ReadWrite". ReadWrite. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  3. ↑ Etherington, Darrell (2015-04-09). "LinkedIn To Buy Online Education Site Lynda.com For $1.5 Billion". TechCrunch.
  4. ↑ Sawers, Paul (2015-04-09). "LinkedIn acquires online education company Lynda.com for $1.5B to help progress your career". VentureBeat.
  5. ↑ Roush, Wade (2013-03-28). "Knowledge When You Need It: Lynda.com and the Rise of Online Education". Xconomy.
  6. ↑ Empson, Rip (2013-01-15). "After 17 Years, Education Platform Lynda.com Raises Its First Round of Funding, $103M From Accel & Spectrum". Tech Crunch.
  7. ↑ Singer, Natasha (2015-01-14). "Investors Put $186 Million Into Lynda.com, an Online Tutorial Service". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Heussner, Ki Mae (2013-02-13). "Flush with cash, Lynda.com buys European online learning site video2brain". Gigaom.
  9. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (2014-04-07). "E-Learning Platform Buys Compilr To Add In-Browser Coding Tools, Price Around $20M - TechCrunch". TechCrunch.
  10. ↑ blog.linkedin.com Lynda joins LinkedIn 2015/04/09
  11. ↑ lynda.com About Us Accessed 2/21/2016
  12. ↑ "Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn | News Center". news.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13. Microsoft Corp. and LinkedIn Corporation on Monday announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $16 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash.
  13. ↑ Greene, Jay; Steele, Anne (June 13, 2016). "Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  14. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-microsoft-our-next-play-begins-jeff-weiner
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