Company Description
Coursera, Inc. (NYSE: COUR) is an online learning platform that connects learners, educators, and institutions with the goal of making educational content more affordable, accessible, and relevant. Classified in the information sector as a software publisher, Coursera combines content, data, and technology into a unified platform that serves both individual learners and organizations. The company operates through three reporting segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees, with the Consumer segment generating the majority of its revenue. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a certified B Corp, reflecting its stated mission to provide universal access to world-class learning and to support personal development, career advancement, and economic opportunity.
Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. According to company disclosures, it has grown into one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with tens of millions of registered learners. Coursera partners with hundreds of leading university and industry organizations to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees. Its platform is designed to support scalable, personalized, and verified learning for individuals and for institutions that need to upskill and reskill employees, students, and citizens in high-demand fields such as generative AI (GenAI), data science, technology, and business.
Business model and segments
Coursera’s business model, as described in its public materials, is organized around three primary segments. The Consumer segment targets individual learners seeking hands-on learning, job-relevant skills, professional-level certifications, and other knowledge to start or advance their careers. The Enterprise segment serves organizations that purchase access to Coursera’s offerings for their employees, students, or citizens. The Degrees segment focuses on online degree programs offered in partnership with universities. The Consumer segment is the largest contributor to revenue, while Enterprise and Degrees expand Coursera’s reach into institutional and credential-based education.
Coursera’s platform integrates expert content, practice, and assessment to help learners demonstrate skills. Institutions worldwide rely on Coursera to support workforce transformation and skills development in areas that the company identifies as high demand, including GenAI, data science, technology, and business. The company’s disclosures emphasize verified learning and credentials, which are intended to provide evidence that skills have been both learned and demonstrated.
Technology and AI-powered learning features
Coursera highlights a range of platform innovations that use generative AI to enhance learning and content creation. These include features such as Coach, Role Play, and Course Builder, as well as role-based solutions like Skills Tracks. According to Coursera, these capabilities enable instructors, partners, and companies to deliver scalable, personalized, and verified learning experiences. Skills Tracks, for example, are described as data-backed learning solutions mapped to specific occupations that guide learners from foundational knowledge to expert proficiency through verified skill paths.
Skills Tracks are powered by Coursera’s Career Graph, which uses labor market data, third-party competency frameworks, and a proprietary skills taxonomy to map relationships between jobs, skills, and learning content. Initial Skill Tracks focus on areas such as Software and Product, IT, Data, and GenAI. Coursera states that these tracks integrate expert content, hands-on practice, and skills verification, and provide organizations with real-time insights into learning progress and alignment with business goals.
Partnerships and ecosystem
Coursera’s ecosystem includes university and industry partners that contribute content and credentials. Public descriptions reference partnerships with more than 350–375 leading university and industry organizations. The company has also announced collaborations with technology and AI companies. For example, Coursera has partnered with OpenAI to become one of the first apps embedded in ChatGPT, making Coursera videos and information discoverable within ChatGPT conversations. This integration is intended to help learners access trusted educational content directly in an AI assistant environment.
Coursera has also partnered with Anthropic to launch Specializations such as Building with the Claude API and Real-World AI for Everyone. These offerings are designed to teach developers and professionals how to work effectively with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, and to help learners apply AI in areas like writing, analysis, and communication, with an emphasis on safe and effective use. Coursera notes that these collaborations support its goal of expanding access to AI skills and responsible AI innovation.
Enterprise and workforce skills focus
Within its Enterprise segment, Coursera focuses on role-based, skills-oriented learning for organizations. Skill Tracks are positioned as a way for leaders to align learning with specific occupations and job tasks, using real-time labor market data and competency frameworks. Coursera states that organizations can customize Skill Tracks with their own content to align training with internal tools, workflows, and priorities. The company also emphasizes rigorous and verifiable credentials based on real-world assessments, intended to show that skills are both acquired and applied.
Coursera’s disclosures describe how enterprises and institutions use its platform to address skill gaps, particularly in the context of rapid technology change and AI adoption. By connecting jobs, skills, and learning content, Coursera presents its platform as a way to support innovation, productivity, and workforce readiness. Examples cited by Coursera include organizations that use targeted learning journeys informed by labor data to build data-driven and future-ready teams.
Merger agreement with Udemy
On December 17, 2025, Coursera and Udemy, Inc. announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement. Under this agreement, a wholly owned Coursera subsidiary will merge with Udemy, with Udemy surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Coursera, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. According to the joint announcement, the transaction is structured as an all-stock combination, with Udemy stockholders to receive Coursera common stock at a specified exchange ratio.
The companies describe the strategic rationale as combining Coursera’s ecosystem of university and industry partners with Udemy’s AI-powered skills development marketplace. The joint press release states that the combined company is expected to operate under the Coursera name, trade under the ticker symbol COUR on the New York Stock Exchange, and be headquartered in Mountain View, California after closing. The transaction is described as intended to enhance global reach, accelerate AI-native product innovation, and strengthen the combined financial profile. Until the merger closes, Coursera and Udemy remain separate companies.
Public company status and governance
Coursera’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COUR. The company has stated that its status as a public benefit corporation remains unchanged in connection with the proposed Udemy combination. As a public benefit corporation, Coursera’s board of directors has indicated in SEC filings that it considers the interests of stockholders as well as those materially affected by Coursera’s conduct, including employees, community, educators, and learners, and its specific public benefit purpose related to global access to education.
Coursera regularly files reports and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. These filings provide additional detail on its financial performance, segment results, non-GAAP metrics, and key business metrics such as registered learners and paid enterprise customers. The company also uses press releases, shareholder letters, conference calls, and webcasts to communicate with investors and other stakeholders.
Key metrics and scale
Coursera reports metrics such as total registered learners and paid enterprise customers as indicators of platform scale and adoption. Company disclosures indicate that registered learners number in the hundreds of millions, and that thousands of enterprise, university, and government customers use Coursera’s offerings. Coursera also reports net retention rates for paid enterprise customers and other non-GAAP financial measures, which it describes as tools used by management to analyze performance and support strategic decisions.
Focus areas and use cases
Coursera highlights several focus areas where it believes its platform is particularly relevant. These include GenAI, data science, technology, and business, where learners and institutions seek job-relevant skills and credentials. The company emphasizes hands-on learning, role-based skill paths, and AI-powered personalization to help individuals move from curiosity to credentials. Through partnerships with AI companies and the integration of Coursera content into AI assistants, the platform aims to make trusted educational material more discoverable and easier to apply in real-world contexts.
FAQs about Coursera, Inc. (COUR)
- What does Coursera, Inc. do?
Coursera, Inc. operates an online learning platform that connects learners, educators, and institutions. It offers courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees, and serves both individual learners and organizations through Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees segments.
- How does Coursera generate revenue?
According to company descriptions, Coursera generates revenue through three reporting segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The majority of its revenue is generated from the Consumer segment, which targets individual learners seeking hands-on learning, job skills, and professional-level certifications.
- What is Coursera’s mission as a public benefit corporation?
Coursera states that it was launched with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. As a Delaware public benefit corporation and B Corp, it identifies a specific public benefit purpose to provide global access to flexible and affordable high-quality education that supports personal development, career advancement, and economic opportunity.
- What types of content and credentials are available on Coursera?
Coursera partners with university and industry organizations to offer a catalog that includes individual courses, multi-course Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degree programs. These offerings are designed to help learners build and verify skills in areas such as GenAI, data science, technology, and business.
- How does Coursera use AI in its platform?
Coursera describes several generative AI-powered features on its platform, including Coach, Role Play, and Course Builder, as well as role-based solutions like Skills Tracks. These tools are intended to support scalable, personalized, and verified learning, and to help instructors and organizations create and deliver content more efficiently.
- What are Coursera Skill Tracks?
Skill Tracks are described as data-backed learning solutions mapped to specific occupations. Powered by Coursera’s Career Graph, they connect jobs, skills, and learning content to guide learners from foundational knowledge to expert proficiency, integrating expert content, hands-on practice, and skills verification.
- What is the relationship between Coursera and Udemy?
On December 17, 2025, Coursera and Udemy announced an Agreement and Plan of Merger under which a Coursera subsidiary will merge with Udemy, with Udemy becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Coursera, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. The combined company is expected to operate under the Coursera name and trade under the COUR ticker after closing.
- How is Coursera involved with OpenAI and ChatGPT?
Coursera has announced that it is one of OpenAI’s first generation of apps in ChatGPT. This integration allows ChatGPT users to access relevant Coursera videos and information within conversations, making Coursera content more discoverable and enabling interactive learning experiences inside the ChatGPT environment.
- What is Coursera’s partnership with Anthropic?
Coursera has partnered with Anthropic to launch Specializations such as Building with the Claude API and Real-World AI for Everyone. These programs are designed to teach developers and professionals how to work effectively with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, and to help learners apply AI in practical, real-world contexts.
- Where is Coursera headquartered and on which exchange does it trade?
Coursera has stated that the combined company following the proposed Udemy merger will be headquartered in Mountain View, California and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol COUR. Coursera’s common stock currently trades on the NYSE under the same symbol.