Business

Russian edtech GetCourse chooses Brazil as the main market to expand internationally

The great demand for the hybrid learning model in the country attracted the startup, which intends to invest part of its $50 million round in Brazil

LABS

20.Sep.2021 14:12 BRT

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The pandemic has accelerated the development of the digital education market worldwide. In Brazil, the growing demand for online teaching solutions has resulted in two trends: the rise of investments in edtechs – education startups have received $222.5 million in investments in the first quarter this year, an increase of 770% compared to last year –, and the emergence of a few dozen edtechs (almost 400, according to research by Liga Ventures in partnership with Qconcursos and consulting firm PwC), many focused on offering solutions to already consolidated educational institutions that need to adapt their models to digital.

The opportunities in the Brazilian market attracted Russian edtech startup GetCourse, which creates and sells online courses and announced Brazil as its main market for expansion after receiving a $50 million investment led by Goldman Sachs and followed by Baring Vostok and Winter Capital. According to GetCourse, at least a quarter of the funds will be invested in Brazil.

Launched in 2014, GetCourse is an all-in-one content delivery and administration platform aimed at schools, universities, and teachers. Its learning software system currently hosts more than 20,000 educators, including 12,000 online schools, instructors, coaches, and bloggers. The tool allows for the provision of classes, webinars, and video training.

In addition, GetCourse also offers learning management tools, website creation, sales fulfillment and process automation, from landing page and webinar sales to messenger integration, among other features to boost its customers’ businesses.

The edtech started operating long before the pandemic shook the online education market and accelerated the migration to a hybrid learning ecosystem. If in 2018, the company’s annual revenue was $5.7 million, two years later, in 2020, the startup’s revenue reached $20.3 million. GetCourse projects to generate up to $1 billion in gross merchandise value by 2021.

According to Sergey Mikhaylov, CEO of GetCourse, the choice of Brazil came after a major analysis of global edtech markets. “We see great interest from Brazilians in online education and want to offer a truly convenient and technological solution for entrepreneurship in this area. We will direct at least 25% of our investments in international development to the Brazilian market,” he said.