Unique Startup Business Models – Story – 10 – Skillshare – A Leading EdTech Platform

Skillshare is one of the leading platforms for online education. It offers comprehensive courses from experts on a wide variety of topics like art, business, technology, and many others, the platform is based on sharing and imparting skills to people who are willing to learn. 

Skillshare – About The Company

Skillshare was founded in 2011 and is based out of New York City, United States. It is an online learning platform where users can take up pre-recorded classes on different subjects, complete with the freedom to move at their own pace and do projects to practice as well as to measure progress. Students are allowed to avail themselves of whichever lessons they prefer and learn at varying difficulties and levels of expertise as well. 

Skillshare, today is the biggest online learning platform ever, with over 12 million registered members. It has over 30,000 video lectures and counting, covering a wide range of disciplines taught by industry experts. 

The Business Model

Skillshare creates a platform for aspiring students to interact with experts in various subjects. The people who use this platform to learn are free to do so, in exchange for a small fee. Students tend to pay a subscription fee to Skillshare, and teachers are paid from this revenue pool. It is a free market learning platform, where anyone can learn or teach, and are subject to evaluation by the community themselves. 

While Skillshare mainly facilitates remote online learning, they also enable experts who would not be hosted in traditional institutions to impart their knowledge to others. The platform encourages users to find and commit to lessons that suit their interest and connects them to expert teachers. These teachers may not have the formal qualifications to teach in institutions, which is why Skillshare as a platform goes beyond the scope of formalities to teach and to learn. 

The Growth Curve

Skillshare has constantly tweaked and updated its catalogue as well as the platform, enhancing the amount and quality of lessons, as well as refocusing on their strengths. Their brand relaunch in 2020 saw them redirecting most of their focus to creative lessons. The company does use the term creativity in a broader sense, incorporating lessons related to all kinds of art like photography, design, animation, filmmaking, writing and content creation.

This is to take advantage of the creative hobby sector, which a lot of people commit to due to their interests, and is estimated to be worth over $2.25 Trillion. For this purpose, they have also bolstered their list of “Originals”, which are courses done by professionals and leading educators sponsored directly and exclusively by the platform.

The Verdict

COVID-19 has boosted the popularity of online learning through the roof. Whether it be apps like Zoom or MS Teams that facilitate student-teacher interaction via calls, or platforms like Skillshare which are exclusively focused on learning, and provides courses. 

The pandemic has boosted the online learning industry across the board, and Skillshare has been the frontrunner in this sector. They have raised over $116 Million in total, with $66 coming in their funding round in August 2020. This has allowed them to expand across markets as well as broaden their content catalogue, including Originals. Skillshare continues to lead the sector in creative education, empowering common people to learn, teach and share their interests with everyone.

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