Udacity, the coding education service, has sprouted a magical horn. The company announced on Wednesday it had raised a $105 million Series D round. With a total valuation of $1 billion, the company has now joined the growing ranks of unicorns.
The round was led by international media, services and education company Bertelsmann with Scotland’s Baillie Gifford, Emerson Collective and Google Ventures joining as new investors. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Drive Capital also participated in the round.
Kay Krafft, CEO Bertelsmann Education Group, also joined Udacity’s board.
“Our mission at Udacity is to democratize education making it affordable and accessible to billions of people around the globe to get the jobs they want to improve their lives. While we have made great strides, we have a long way to go in reaching our goal,” wrote Udacity president and COO Vish Makhijani. “This latest round values our company at $1 billion, making it an exciting yet humbling moment in our history.”
The funding round comes as the company is increasing its international presence. Earlier this fall, Udacity expanded its services in India.
The announcement came as the company celebrated the one-year anniversary of its nanodegree program. The nanodegrees are now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce. Udacity reported 11,000 students are currently enrolled in nanodegree programs in 168 countries.