COURT begins trading on the NYSE

Shares of educational technology company Coursera opened at $ 39 each when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Coursera valued its 15.73 million shares at $ 33 each – the high end of its initial target range of $ 30 to $ 33. In its offer, the company raised nearly $ 520 million for an implied valuation of $ 4.3 billion.

Shares rose about 18% after it opened, giving the company a market cap of around $ 5.13 billion. Coursera was last valued in the private market at $ 3.6 billion, according to PitchBook.

Founded in 2012 by former Stanford University computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, the Mountain View, California-based company offers individuals access to online courses and degrees from top universities. , a business that has exploded throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Revenue last year jumped 59% to $ 293 million. Still, Coursera’s net losses widened to $ 66.8 million, from $ 46.7 million in 2019, as the company said it added more than 12,000 new degrees for students in the past two years. The total number of registered users increased 65% year over year in 2020.

“[When] we started in 2012 with Andrew and Daphne, it was kind of B2C – setting up courses and seeing who from all over the world wants to come … [since then] 77 million people came to Coursera.org; 30 million during the pandemic, ”CEO Jeff Maggioncalda said on CNBC’s“ Squawk Alley ”Wednesday morning before the shares began trading.

“Almost all students were forced to learn online. Almost all teachers were forced to teach online. This enormous forced experience was difficult in some ways, but it also introduced a new way of learning which is adopted for its affordability, quality and convenience. “

Maggioncalda joined the company as CEO in 2017 after 18 years at Financial Engines, an investment advisory firm he founded and went public in 2010 before its merger in 2018 with Edelman Financial Services.

“This institutional learning, where people learn on the job and even get fully accredited bachelor’s and master’s degrees while they work … we think that’s what the future really looks like,” added Maggioncalda. .

According to the company’s IPO prospectus, as of December 31, 2020, more than 150 universities were offering more than 4,000 courses through the Coursera platform, which includes more than two dozen study programs.

A bachelor’s or master’s degree completed by Coursera can cost anywhere from $ 9,000 to $ 45,000. The company also offers a wide variety of education certificates and job skills courses that range in price from $ 9.99 to $ 99.

During the pandemic, Coursera also partnered with more than 330 government agencies in 70 countries and 30 US states and cities as part of the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative, which helps governments provide the unemployed with free access. to thousands of business, technology and data courses. scientific skills from companies such as Amazon and Google.

“We see education as a lifelong opportunity and a lifelong obligation for most people,” Maggioncalda said Wednesday. “What happened with industry after industry is now happening with education. Technology can cut costs and increase access and accessibility, and that’s precisely what we’re seeing with degrees on Coursera.

Coursera has made the CNBC Disruptor 50 list multiple times and recently ranked # 4 on the 2020 list.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were the main underwriters of the Coursera offering. The stock trades under the symbol “COUR”.