Go1, a Brisbane-based platform which offers curated learning tools and materials playlists for businesses, announced raising a $200 million Series D co-led by Softbank’s Vision Fund2, Airtree Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, according to TechCrunch.
CEO and co-founder Andrew Barnes stated that the company will use the funding to expand its existing markets in Australia, the US, UK, Singapore and Malaysia, further its reach in Europe and the Asia Pacific, and continue adding and improving learning and development training services.
Go1 offers a range of business education tools and materials, aggregated in a playlist-style format that includes over 150,000 pieces of content from over 1,000 third-party publishers.
The company allows businesses to access learning materials from a wide range of creators and publishers without having to work out independent deals. It also incorporates artificial intelligence analytics to offer insight on our education tools are performing.
The funding also included participation from Blue Cloud Ventures, Larsen Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, M12, SEEK, TEN13 and Tiger Global. The Series D more than doubles the $80 million Go1 has raised in the past six years, most of which came from their $40 million Series C in May 2020.
“We believe Go1 is the emerging category leader in providing a similar experience for corporate learning. Powered by AI and machine learning, Go1’s platform provides an intuitive experience, and creates an opportunity for individuals to expand their professional development goals and explore the resources to help achieve them,” said Nagraj Kashyap, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, in a statement.
Founded in 2015, Go1 has experienced quick growth since incubation at Y Combinator, and has now hit unicorn status with a valuation over $1 billion. The company already works with over 3.5 million users across 1,600 global enterprises, including names like Microsoft (who has invested in Go1 through its M12 fund), TikTok, Suzuki, Asahi, Thrifty and the University of Oxford.
The company has also increased its team size 18% over the past year and made a number of key leadership hires from notable internet companies, including former Amazon Marketplace product development executive Barnaby Dorfman as CTO, former Salesforce exec Danielle Dacunha-Howarth as VP of sales enablement, and former WeWork exec John Amici as VP of sales for the Americas, according to Business News Australia.
In other recent fintech news, online mortgage marketplace Morty announced a $25 million Series B funding round. American Express is also eyeing financial planning tech with startup BodesWell.