Pluralsight Overview
 Pluralsight is a privately held online education company that provides video training courses in software development, IT, and creative fields. It was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Utah. The company has over 1,400 subject-matter experts as authors and offers more than 7,000 courses in its catalog. Since 2007, Pluralsight has expanded to include a full enterprise platform and skills assessment modules.
Company Growth and Development
Pluralsight was founded in 2004 as a classroom training company and shifted to online video training by 2007. Since 2011, it has experienced rapid growth, appearing on various lists such as Inc. 5000, Utah 100, Forbes Cloud 100, and Great Place To Work's Best Workplaces. In 2018, the company went public and its stock price closed at $20 on the first day of trading. In 2020, Pluralsight had 18,000 corporate clients, including 70% of Fortune 500 companies. In December 2020, it was acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $3.5 billion, with regulatory approval expected in H1 2021. The acquisition was successfully completed in April 2021 for $22.50 per share.
Business Model and Offerings
Pluralsight offers online professional tech training through a subscription model to individual and business customers. Course authors are paid royalties based on the number of views their videos receive, with Scott Allen becoming the first author to earn over $1 million in royalties in 2013. The company also offers a completeÂ
 Join NowÂ
SaaS platform for enterprise users and was working with 70% of Fortune 500 companies by 2019. Business-to-business sales accounted for 86% of the company's billings in 2019. Pluralsight is committed to corporate philanthropy through its participation in the Pledge 1% movement and has a goal of improving technology education in the non-profit sector through its Pluralsight One initiative.
Funding and Investment History
When Pluralsight first started, its four founders each contributed $5,000. For the first nine years, the company and its founders received no outside funding. In December 2012, the company raised $27.5 million in Series A funding from Insight Venture Partners. On March 18, 2014, it received an additional $2.5 million in Series A Funding.Â
On August 27, 2014, it received $135 million in Series B funding from Insight Venture Partners, ICONIQ Capital, and Sorenson Capital—reported at the time to be the largest venture funding round ever received by a Utah company. Co-founder and CEO Aaron Skonnard stated that after this round of funding, the company's valuation had increased from less than $100 million in 2012 to nearly $1 billion.Â
In December 2016, the company raised an additional $30 million in a Series C round that valued the company over $1 billion. The round included funding from existing investors Insight Venture Partners and Iconiq Capital.
