Global eLearning Innovator OpenSesame Receives $50 Million Strategic Growth Investment from JMI Equity and Existing Investors

Investment to Accelerate OpenSesame’s Innovation and Global Expansion

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OpenSesame, a market-leading SaaS global elearning innovator, today announced a $50 million investment led by JMI Equity, a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies, with participation from existing investors FTV Capital and Altos Ventures. This growth investment will strengthen OpenSesame’s ability to accelerate its global expansion, extend its technology platform through product-led M&A, and continue adding value for its global customers.

As a result of COVID-19 and the dawn of the work from home era, companies around the world were forced to rethink the way they train and develop their organizations. With remote workforces, organizations accelerated their adoption of online learning and employee development programs, with a particular surge in demand for more training on topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), leadership development, enabling a safe working environment, and wellness in the workplace. OpenSesame’s comprehensive catalog of 20,000+ elearning courses, in over 19 languages, and new courses from world-class content partners such as TED and Harvard Business Publishing, is the most complete and indispensable solution for global and remote workforces across all industries.

“OpenSesame has seen unprecedented growth over the past few years, driven by the demand for people-first online learning,” said Don Spear, CEO of OpenSesame. “Not only are we serving new customers through innovative virtual technologies, but we are also expanding our reach with current customers by serving many new and multi-language courses. As we considered accelerating our growth, it became clear that we should add another proven financial partner to help us optimize our business for further success. We found that partner in JMI. With its 30-year track record and unmatched commitment to working with high-growth software businesses, we will accelerate investment in AI-powered course curation and expand our lead in serving the elearning market.”

OpenSesame will accelerate its investment in partnerships and technology to provide customers access to even more high-quality courses. The company adds exclusive courses by connecting the world’s best content developers and top subject-matter experts with its own curation team to produce courses that address the unmet training needs of today’s virtual and diverse workforces. OpenSesame has developed technology allowing learning administrators to create custom learning paths for each learner with AI-curated course lists. OpenSesame’s Simon^™ platform allows learning professionals to create engaging online training courses in multiple languages that integrate with any learning management platform.

“As corporate training and business learning have evolved over the past several years, OpenSesame has emerged as the leader in delivering innovative virtual learning experiences and best-in-class content to a quickly growing, global customer base,” said Peter Arrowsmith, Managing General Partner at JMI Equity, who will join the OpenSesame Board of Directors.

Added Sureel Sheth, Principal at JMI, “COVID-19, the increased need for learning resources around important DEI-related topics, and a growing commitment by global organizations to invest in continuous learning have all accelerated demand for OpenSesame’s technology, curation expertise, and content marketplace. We look forward to partnering with Don and the entire OpenSesame team as the company meets this growing demand and develops new products and partnerships to reach a wider global audience.”

For more information about OpenSesame’s courses and DEI progress survey, visit: https://www.opensesame.com.

About OpenSesame

OpenSesame helps develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces through powerful online learning in every industry. With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, OpenSesame helps global companies every step of the way. In a moment of an increasingly virtual workforce, OpenSesame has added even more Global 2000 companies to its customer base. With over 20,000+ courses, the platform touches all industries in all markets.

About JMI Equity

JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in over 155 businesses in its target markets, successfully completed over 105 exits, and raised more than $6 billion of committed capital. JMI partners with exceptional management teams to help build their companies into industry leaders.