In May 2021, MasterClass.com raised a Series F funding round (led by Fidelity) of $225 million
Within the first four months of launch, MasterClass.com sold courses to more than 30,000 customers
The longest MasterClass.com video is by Chris Hadfield with 29 videos and a run time of 7 hours and 47 minutes
The most watched lesson on MasterClass.com is by Chris Voss, former FBI negotiator, sharing his thoughts on tactical empathy
The most popular classes in the pandemic were Chris Voss's on the Art of Negotiation and Vogue’s Anna Wintour teaching a creativity and leadership course
A quarter of MasterClass.com users say that taking MasterClass courses has changed their lives in their recent survey.
It has increased its workforce by more than 100% since 2019 (Privateequitywire)
MasterClass won 2 Webby awards in 2020, which according to the New York Times is the Internet’s highest honour (WebbyAwards)
MasterClass.com started with just 3 instructors, including Dustin Hoffman and Serena Williams (PRNewswire)
There are now 100+ MasterClass.com Classes across 9 categories (April 2021)
Most MasterClass.com videos are between 3-4 hours long
Daniel Negreanu Teaches Poker with 38 video lessons and a run time of 7 hours and 40 minutes comes in second, followed by Gary Kasparov teaches chess with 29 videos at 7 hours and 20 minutes
MasterClass.com was started with $1.9m in funding led by Harrison Metals
MasterClass.com's total funding to May 2021 was $475m
There have been 7 rounds of funding – seed to Series F
In May 2021, MasterClass.com raised a Series F funding round (led by Fidelity) of $225 million
This round of funding is said to have more than tripled the start-up’s valuation to $2.75 billion
During the pandemic, MasterClass.com doubled its sales
It is rumoured that MasterClass.com celebrity instructors are paid around $100,000 upfront and receive 30% of the revenue the classes generate
MasterClass.com charges a $180 annual subscription fee for users to access its library of content
The subscription model was responsible for 80% of the company’s revenue in 2018 and is now responsible for 100% of its revenue
MasterClass.com averages 9.88M visits to its website per month
The trend in early 2021 was that traffic was increasing by 7% per month
The US (47%), UK (6%) and Canada (6%) are driving the most traffic to the site
MasterClass was founded in 2014 in the US as a private company. Its purpose is to provide online education, as the company's name states.
Let's have a look at an overview of the company.
Key Stats
Key Info
Launch Date
October 2014
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, U.S.A
Type of Industry
Online Education
Type of site
Private
Founder(s)
David Rogier, Aaron Rasmussen
Key people
David Rogier (CEO), Valen Tong (CFO), David Schriber (CMO), Len Amato (CCO)
Number of Employees
672
Valuation
$2.75 billion
Revenue
$94.9 million
Website
masterclass.com
MasterClass Revenue
After 2020, when it reached the new milestone of earning more than $100 million in revenue, the highest revenue generated by MasterClass.com after COVID-19.
Year
Revenue
2022
$94.9 million (June)
2021
$118.8 million
2020
$88.9 million
2019
$44.5 million
2018
$30 million
2017
$19 million
2016
$13 million
2015
$8.9 million
MasterClass is one of the companies that has thanked the lockdown in 2020, as the year's revenue was one step away from doubling the amount earned the year before.
In 2019, MasterClass had revenue of $44.5 million, jumping to $88.9 in 2020.
MasterClass.com has raised $461.4 million in investment over ten rounds. On July 22, 2021, they received their most recent funding from a Secondary Market round.
Announced Date
Transaction Name
Number of Investors
Money Raised
Lead Investors
Jul 22, 2021
Secondary Market - MasterClass
1
—
—
May 13, 2021
Series F - MasterClass
23
$225M
Fidelity Management and Research Company
May 7, 2021
Secondary Market - MasterClass
1
—
—
May 20, 2020
Series E - MasterClass
12
$100M
Fidelity Management and Research Company
Sep 6, 2018
Series D - MasterClass
6
$80M
IVP
Jun 20, 2018
Venture Round - MasterClass
1
—
Akkadian Ventures
Mar 28, 2017
Series C - MasterClass
11
$35M
IVP
Feb 23, 2016
Series B - MasterClass
8
$15M
New Enterprise Associates
Jan 1, 2015
Series A - MasterClass
9
$4.5M
Javelin Venture Partners
Feb 23, 2013
Seed Round - MasterClass
5
$1.9M
Harrison Metal
The first MasterClass funding was recorded in 2013, with 5 investors that managed to raise $1.9 million.
Fast-forward to 2021, we can see that 23 investors managed to raise $225 million for MasterClass. That only shows the huge progress the company made in time.
MasterClass.com makes its money through subscribers paying a subscription fee in order to get unrestricted access to their courses. The All Access Pass package costs $180 a year, which works out to $15 per month.
Customers can also pay a one-time price of $90 for access to one class separately.
The number of MasterClass.com's daily active users is 380,000 users.
As we speak, it's likely that the number of daily active users increases. We'll see about this in the near future, when we'll update this post with even fresher data.
MasterClass works with world-class practitioners to share their unique mastery with the world. There are multiple categories to choose from as well!
Class
Top Content Creators
Film and TV
Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking, Jodie Foster Teaches Filmmaking, Ron Howard Teaches Directing ,Samuel L. Jackson Teaches Acting, Helen Mirren Teaches Acting
Music and Entertainment
Hans Zimmer Teaches Film Scoring, Steve Martin Teaches Comedy, Herbie Hancock Teaches Jazz, Itzhak Perlman Teaches Violin, Danny Elfman Teaches Music for Film
Writing
Shonda Rhimes Teaches Writing for Television, Joyce Carol Oats Teaches The Art of the Short Story, Neil Gaiman Teaches The Art of Storytelling, David Sedaris Teaches Story Telling and Humor, Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing
Culinary Arts
Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking, Alice Waters Teaches Home Cooking, Aaron Franklin Teaches Texas-Style BBQ, Dominique Ansel Teaches French Pastry Fundamentals , Yotam Ottolenghi Teaches Modern Middle Eastern Cooking
Business, Politics and Society
Bob Woodward Teaches Investigate Journalism, Sara Blakely Teaches Self-Made Entrepreneurship, Doris Kearns Goodwin Teaches U.S. Presidential History and Leadership, Paul Krugman Teaches Economics and Society, Anna Wintour Teaches Creativity and Leadership
Sports and Games
Serena Williams Teaches Tennis, Stephen Curry Teaches Shooting Ball Handling and Scoring, Garry Kasparov Teaches Chess, Simone Biles Teaches Gymnastics Fundamentals, Misty Copeland Teaches Ballet Technique and Artistry
Design, Photography and Fashion
Frank Gehry Teaches Design and Architecture, Diane Von Furstenberg Teaches Building a Fashion Brand, Marc Jacobs Teaches Fashion Design, Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography, Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography
Lifestyle
Bobbi Brown Teaches Makeup and Beauty
Science and Technology
Dr Jane Goodall Teaches Conservation, Chris Hadfield Teaches Space Exploration
From movies and music to business, politics and science, MasterClass has gathered the world's leading masters to offer as many classes as possible.
You can find a MasterClass for pretty much every university course!
In 2017, the Hollywood Reporter said that most MasterClass instructors are paid at least $100,000 upfront and receive a share of at least 30% of the revenue; it seems likely that those numbers have increased over the last five years.
The top traffic source to Masterclass.com is search traffic, driving 74.83% of desktop visits last month, and direct is the 2nd with 20.47% of traffic.
The most underutilized channel is mail. Drill down into the main traffic drivers in each channel below
Masterclass.com gets most of its social media traffic from YouTube, followed by Facebook and LinkedIn.
If you've used Non-Premium YouTube before, then you might've seen MasterClass' ads that promote learning online.
Social Media
Share of Traffic
YouTube
45.24%
Facebook
30.64%
Twitter
6.86%
Instagram
5.58%
Reddit
3.68%
Others
8.01%
Then, it's probable that you've seen certain YouTubers promoting MasterClass within their videos. That's why YouTube is the #1 traffic driver to the MasterClass.
In June 2022, MasterClass.com laid off more than 20% -30% of its employees, having left just 534 people working at the company.
Year
Number of Employees
2022
534 Employees
2021
668 Employees
2020
500 Employees
2019
250 Employees
2018
167 Employees
2017
111 Employees
2016
74 Employees
2015
50 Employees
The decision to lay off the employees was in order to adapt to the macro environment and achieve faster self sustainability, according to David Rogier (CEO of MasterClass).
What are the notable Frequently Asked Questions about MasterClass?
Questions
Answers
Can you cancel MasterClass anytime?
Yes, you can cancel your subscription auto-renewal at any time within your account settings.
How long does it take to finish a MasterClass?
MasterClass.com classes are about 2-5 hours on average, with individual lessons ranging from 2-5 minutes. Classes include pre-recorded video lessons by your instructor, a class workbook, interactive assignments, and sometimes community activities.
Can two people share a MasterClass?
As a Duo or Family plan member, can multiple people within a shared plan enrol in the same Session class? At this time we only allow one user to enrol in a specific Session class at a time. However, other shared users can enrol in different Session courses at the same time.
Can you get MasterClass for free?
There isn't a MasterClass free trial, so to speak. But MasterClass is so certain of the quality of its lessons that it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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About the author
Ch Daniel is the co-founder of SignHouse and chairman of the CH Group. Daniel is leading the development of SignHouse's product, as well as strategising how else the company can reach its main mission: empowering 100M+ to use the world's most efficient document organisational tools.
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