- Current price
- $38.60
- Min Amount
- $10
- Earliest start
- Any time
Invest in MasterClass
MasterClass is a streaming platform with training courses from world-famous experts, athletes, and celebrities. The company was founded by Aaron Rasmussen, a Boston University graduate, and David Roget, a Stanford Business School graduate.
The project was founded with the motto "Everyone should have access to genius." That's how in 2015 the MasterClass platform appeared, where you can take cooking classes with Gordon Ramsay, make movies with Martin Scorsese, play tennis with Serena Williams and master anything the most famous professionals in their field can teach.
There are more than 100 courses available on the platform, and each month this number is growing. David Roger, the company's CEO, admits that he would also like to invite J. K. Rowling, Elon Musk, Barack and Michelle Obama.
The learning process is organized in the form of Hollywood-quality video lessons, after which a user can do the homework and share the results with other students. The service works on a subscription that costs $180 per year.
The company's business model is a two-sided platform that links its users and celebrities. The former get an opportunity to get closer to their role models, get access to exclusive content, motivation and knowledge. The latter – the opportunity to share accumulated knowledge and experience and make money out of it. The platform is beneficial for both sides, which creates positive network externalities and accelerates the platform’s growth.
The global e-learning market size is projected to grow $370 billion by 2026, from $226 Billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.5% during 2021-2026. The pandemic has contributed to the market expansion by increasing interest from both students and investors.
Unlike courses on traditional e-learning platforms, MasterClass content is aimed at a wide audience – it is both informative and entertaining. The company's activities go beyond the educational sphere and cover the vast online entertainment market, which is projected to reach $652.5 billion by 2027 with the annual growth of more than 20%.
In spring 2021, MasterClass held another successful investment round. The company plans to invest the accumulated funds in its global expansion – so far, the platform only has classes in English, but almost a third of MasterClass students live outside the United States. Over the next year, it plans to offer classes in Spanish, French and German.
It is also planned to allocate a separate direction for work in the B2B segment. According to the management, companies are interested in working with MasterClass – they can provide their employees with access to the platform as a bonus and use it as a training tool. This will open up new opportunities for MasterClass: according to forecasts, the corporate online learning market will grow by 11% annually and will exceed $37 billion by 2026.
MasterClass competes with many players in the market. On the one hand, these are online training platforms the likes of Coursera, Udemy, Udacity. On the other hand, the company also competes with various media content producers, including such streaming platforms as Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO max, Spotify’s music platform, the audiobook and podcast service Storytel, etc.
Like Netflix and other streaming platforms, MasterClass constantly invests in the production of video content. This makes the business less profitable than traditional online learning platforms and slows the company’s break-even.
MasterClass’s success depends heavily on its ability to attract celebrities and experts, and problems in finding them can lead to lower revenues and the loss of clients.
Over 8 investment rounds, MasterClass has raised a total of $461.4 million in funding from 35 investors, including Fidelity Management (invested in Alibaba), UTA Ventures (invested in Lyft and Radish), Baillie Gifford (NIO investor) and others.
In May 2021, as part of a series F round, MasterClass raised $225 million at a valuation of $2.75 billion. According to our forecasts, MasterClass's estimated value on the public market will be $6-8 billion.
The main drivers for the company's growth are international expansion, opening of the new business segment that targets the B2B market and realization of new courses on the platform. The presence of stars on the platform will help MasterClass promote its public placement.
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ENTRY FEE
3.5% of the share purchase amount. The fee is charged at confirmation of your investment bid.
EXIT FEE
0.5% of the share sell amount after the trade. The fee is charged at the investment exit.
SUCCESS FEE
20% of the profit gain. The fee is charged only if the trade is profitable at the time of exiting.
EARLY EXIT FEE
Usually a 15% fee is charged subject to the actual situation at the exchange. The fee is calculated individually for each investment.
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- Time uncertainty. There is no information regarding next financing round or exit strategy timeframe (IPO or M&A).
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