TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Udacity Raises $35M, To Offer ‘Nanodegrees’

By TechTaffy Desk

Udacity has closed a financing round of $35 million. The investment was led by Drive Capital. Other participants in the round include Bertelsmann in Germany, Recruit in Japan, and Valor Capital in Brazil, as well as Cox Enterprises. Andreessen Horowitz and Charles River Ventures with Peter Levine and George Zachary complete the round. Mark Kvamme, founder of Drive Capital, is joining the Udacity board.

Udacity says the new investment will be used to double down on the company’s work with nanodegrees, a new type of credential recognized by partner employers like Google or Facebook. Udacity is opening its first nanodegree, built with AT&T, to an initial group of students, with enrollment options for more students coming soon.

Udacity currently has close to three million enrollments from 119 countries.

[Image courtesy: Udacity]

Just in

Series E

Vercel raises $250M

San Francisco-based Vercel, a frontend cloud platform provider, has secured $250 million in Series E funding, bringing the company's valuation to $3.25 billion.
Series A

Worky raises $6M (Mexico)

Mexico City-based Worky, a provider of HR and payroll software solutions for Mexican companies, has closed a $6 million Series A financing round.
Industry

Amazon announces $1.31B investment in France

Amazon has announced a new investment of about $1.31 billion (€1.2 billion) in France, which the company says will lead to the creation of over 3,000 permanent jobs in the country.
Around the web

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky to step down — CNBC

Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon’s cloud computing business, will step down from his role next month. Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Amazon Web Services, will succeed Mr. Selipsky after he exits the company June 3, writes Annie Palmer. 
AI

Palo Alto Networks, Accenture expand alliance to offer generative AI services

Palo Alto Networks and Accenture have announced the expansion of their strategic alliance to provide new offerings that combine Palo Alto Networks' Precision AI technology with Accenture's secure generative AI services.