Adobe leads new investment in Skillshare to provide global access to its creative learning platform

The last time we wrote about Skillshare was back in August when the New York City-based online learning platform raised $66 million Series D funding to expand access to creative courses globally. Now, a little over two months later, Skillshare announced today it has raised new funding from Adobe, the global leader in creative software. The total amount of funding was not disclosed. This latest raise is part of Skillshare’s Series D round announced this summer.

To date, Skillshare has raised over $108 million in capital from Union Square Ventures, OMERS Growth Equity, Amasia, Burda Principal Investments, and Spero Ventures. OMERS Growth Equity led the Series D fundraising round. The funding comes at a time when roughly 75 percent of Americans are participating in a creative hobby or the other.

Founded in 2010 by Malcolm Ong and Michael Karnjanaprakorn, the New York-based Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. With more than 12 million registered members, 8,000 teachers, and over 30,000 video-based classes in a wide range of creative disciplines from graphic design to photography to painting and illustration to interior design, Skillshare has experienced a year of unprecedented growth.

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with Adobe,” said CEO Matt Cooper. “We both believe in the incredible power of creativity to transform people’s lives, both on a personal and professional level. 75 percent of Americans participate in a creative hobby, and we want to support creative learners around the world on their journey.”

The Skillshare community has always loved to learn through Adobe’s suite of tools, and more than 30 percent of Skillshare classes feature Adobe products. In 2019, Adobe partnered with Skillshare to provide exclusive tutorials with leading illustrators in connection with the launch of Fresco, Adobe’s next-generation painting, and drawing app.

During a time defined by the pandemic and social unrest, Skillshare has seen a surge in new members joining to cultivate creative skills as a way to process, grow, and activate. At the same time, more creative professionals are turning to Skillshare to hone their talent, including training themselves on the latest software from Adobe.