- MasterClass, a streaming platform that makes it easier to learn from experts in their field, announced it raised $100 million in Series E funding
MasterClass — a streaming platform that makes it easier to learn from experts in their field — announced it raised $100 million in Series E funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from new investors including Owl Ventures, 01 Advisors and existing investors NEA, IVP, Atomico, and NextEquity.
With this round of funding, MasterClass plans to offer a better member experience and focus more on international expansion. Plus the funding will be used for product innovations, employee growth, and continued expansion of its instructor roster.
And the company continues to innovate at the intersection of learning, entertainment, and inspiration. Over the past few months, MasterClass has continued to launch new classes from the world’s best and delivered MasterClass Live streamed forums with its instructors. Plus it deployed new apps to enable viewing on big screens, including AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku devices, and Android TV.
“We launched MasterClass because we believed there was an opportunity for a different approach to the learning model. This round of funding will enable us to expand MasterClass’s offerings so that we can continue to feed curiosity and inspire the world to try something new. We’re excited to be working with Fidelity Management & Research Company as we enter this next chapter of growth,” said David Rogier, co-founder and CEO of MasterClass.
MasterClass has over 85 classes taught by instructors about business and leadership along with culinary arts, photography, writing, lifestyle, etc. And each MasterClass has video lessons featuring cinematic visuals with close-up and hands-on demonstrations. The All-Access Pass costs $180 per year.
The roster of classes include:
– Howard Schultz (business leadership)
– Anna Wintour (creativity and leadership),
– Sara Blakely (self-made entrepreneurship)
– Bob Iger (strategy and leadership)
– Chris Voss (art of negotiation)
– Gordon Ramsay (cooking)
– Wolfgang Puck (cooking)
– James Suckling (wine appreciation)
– Aaron Franklin (Texas BBQ)
– Ryan Chetiyawardana (mixology)
– Martin Scorsese (filmmaking)
– Ron Howard (directing)
– Spike Lee (filmmaking)
– Mira Nair (independent filmmaking)
– Ken Burns (documentary filmmaking)
– Helen Mirren (acting)
– Samuel L. Jackson (acting)
– Judd Apatow (comedy)
– Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting)
– Shonda Rhimes (writing for television)
– Natalie Portman (acting)
– David Lynch (creativity and filmmaking)
– Bobbi Brown (makeup and beauty)
– RuPaul (self-expression and authenticity)
– Ron Finley (gardening)
– Steve Martin (comedy)
– Christina Aguilera (singing)
– Usher (performance)
– Reba McEntire (country music)
– Herbie Hancock (jazz)
– Deadmau5 (music production)
– Armin van Buuren (dance music)
– Hans Zimmer (film scoring)
– Carlos Santana (art and soul of guitar)
– Timbaland (producing and beatmaking)
– Penn & Teller (magic), Itzhak Perlman (violin)
– Danny Elfman (music for film)
– Sheila E. (drumming and percussion)
– Judy Blume (writing)
– Malcolm Gladwell (writing)
– R.L. Stine (writing for young audiences)
– Margaret Atwood (creative writing)
– Dan Brown (writing thrillers)
– Neil Gaiman (storytelling)
– Billy Collins (poetry)
– David Sedaris (storytelling and humor)
– Annie Leibovitz (photography)
– Jimmy Chin (adventure photography)
– Frank Gehry (architecture)
– Diane von Furstenberg (how to build a fashion brand)
– Marc Jacobs (fashion design)
– Serena Williams (tennis)
– Stephen Curry (shooting, ball-handling, and scoring)
– Garry Kasparov (chess)
– Daniel Negreanu (poker)
– Phil Ivey (poker strategy)
– Simone Biles (gymnastics)
– Misty Copeland (ballet)
– Jane Goodall (conservation)
– Bob Woodward (investigative journalism)
– Karl Rove and David Axelrod (political campaign strategy)
– Paul Krugman (economics and society)
– Doris Kearns Goodwin (U.S. presidential history and leadership)
– Chris Hadfield (space exploration)
– Will Wright (game design)
– Neil deGrasse Tyson (scientific thinking and communication).
Here’s a recent trailer that MasterClass released:
