Type of site Private Employees 500+ (2014) Customer service 000 800 1004 176 Founded 1995 CEO Eric Robison (Jan 2008–) | Key people Eric Robison, CEO Website lynda.com Revenue 100 million USD (2013) Owner LinkedIn | |
Industry Online services
Online education
Online publishing
Online training Products Online training library Headquarters Carpinteria, California, United States Founders Lynda Weinman, Bruce Heavin Profiles |
lynda.com is an online education company offering thousands of video courses in software, creative, and business skills. Founded in 1995, the company produces video tutorials taught by industry experts. Members have unlimited access to watch the videos, which are primarily educational. On April 9, 2015, LinkedIn announced its purchase of lynda.com for $1.5 billion. Based in Carpinteria, California, lynda.com has more than 500 employees worldwide, and offers instruction in English as well as German, French, and Spanish through its branded division, video2brain.
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History
lynda.com was founded in 1995 in Ojai, California, as online support for the books and classes of Lynda Weinman, a special effects animator and multimedia professor who founded a digital arts school with her husband, artist Bruce Heavin.
In 2002, they began offering courses online. By 2004, there were 100 courses, and in 2008, the company began producing and publishing documentaries on creative leaders, artists, and entrepreneurs.
In 2013, lynda.com received its very first outside investment, raising $103 million in growth equity from Accel Partners and Spectrum Equity, with additional contributions from Meritech Capital Partners.
On January 14, 2015, lynda.com announced it had raised $186 million in financing, led by investment group TPG Capital.
In early 2016 Lynda.com began to broadcast courses on their Apple TV application.
Acquisitions
In February, 2013, lynda.com acquired video2brain, an Austrian-based provider of online classes in web design and programming, available in German, French, Spanish, and English.
On April 7, 2014, lynda.com purchased Canadian startup Compilr, provider of an online editor and sandbox.
On April 9, 2015, LinkedIn Corp. announced its intention to buy lynda.com in a deal valued at $1.5 billion, which officially closed on May 14, 2015. The site is now branded as "Lynda.com® A LinkedIn Company".
On June 13, 2016, Microsoft announced it will acquire Lynda.com's parent company LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 8, 2016.