Coursera, an online education platform, has closed a Series C round of funding worth $49.5 million. The company expects a second closing of the round in the fall which will bring the total to $60 million. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round. Coursera will use the funds to to source new content and expand internationally. Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA and member of Coursera’s Board of Directors said, “Coursera has made tremendous progress over the last year and is meeting a major, global market need with its multi-course Specializations in key workforce sectors. We are excited to support the growth of this high-impact enterprise, which is transforming lives through access to the world’s best educational institutions.”
Fanatics, an e-commerce company selling sports merchandise, has raised $300 million from private equity firm Silver Lake, Fortune reports. The Florida-based company, previously raised $320 million in equity funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Insight venture Partners in 2012, and $130 million from Alibaba last year.
Drone manufacturer EHANG has raised $42 million in Series B financing. GP Capital led the round, with participation from GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Lebox Capital, OFC and PreAngel. The company raised $10 million in Series A funding last year and will use the latest round of financing for marketing, recruitment and to build an ecosystem for its unmanned aerial vehicles, which are controlled by apps. “We are thrilled to receive the continuous support and recognition of our products and value from so many influential investors, especially in the current tough financial environment,” said Huazhi Hu, founder and CEO of EHANG. “The four senior executives from global 500 and public hi-tech companies also enable us to be a leading player in the UAV industry.”
Scality, a software-based storage company, has raised $45 million in Series D funding. New investor BroadBand Tower participated in the round, as did previous backers Menlo ventures and 65% of the Scality staff. The company has now raised a total of $80 million and will use the latest funds to increase its sales force in North America and expand internationally. “There’s no doubt in my mind that today, Scality is the biggest disruptor of the traditional storage industry, and I am extremely excited to witness their progression. Their innovative storage model is meeting demand for scale like no other product on the market, and is poised to keep up with the steep incline in data volumes. With Jerome’s forward-thinking mindset, we expect to see Scality continue to be a trailblazer and to take its RING technology to the next level,” said Douglas C. Carlisle, Managing Director at Menlo Ventures.