Go1 signage

GO1.com raises over $30 million in Series B round led by M12 & SEEK

GO1.com, the world’s largest onboarding, compliance and professional development platform, has raised more than $30 million in a Series B funding round led by M12, Microsoft’s venture fund.

It includes participation from existing investors including SEEK (ASX:SEK) and Y Combinator. Larsen Ventures joins M12 as new investors in GO1.com.

Larsen Ventures is the investment arm of Peter Larsen, co-founder of Navitas, one of Australia’s largest education providers.

As part of its investment M12 will have a seat on the board.

“The investment aligns well with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more,” M12 Principal Priya Saiprasad said.

Ms Saiprasad described GO1.com as “one of those rare companies that brings a consumer-led experience to an inherently enterprise product”.

“GO1 is redefining how enterprises procure training content and how employees in turn consume it via a modern user-experience and a single subscription. And while it was clear to us that customer love was responsible for GO1’s rapid growth, the incredible passion of the founding team to create an easier way to learn is what truly sealed the deal with the M12 team.

“We are excited to partner with existing investors SEEK, YC and individuals like Steve Baxter, who have helped the company from inception in 2015.

“Our goal is to leverage Microsoft’s broad reach, including our portfolio development team and co-sell programs, to be the accelerant in the next part of GO1’s journey as they transform the way people learn across the world,” Ms Saiprasad said.

According to SEEK chief executive Andrew Bassat, the company was pleased to support GO1.com’s Series B funding round.

“We have been working closely with the GO1 team for some time and are really pleased with the terrific progress in that time. GO1 have a very strong team and do a great job of offering access to content and courses to allow people to up-skill and re-skill themselves for work.

“Our increased investment reflects our ongoing commitment to scale-up innovative businesses across the human-capital market that are helping people to remain relevant in the workforce and reach their career aspirations. We look forward to leveraging our experience, technology and relationships with millions of people and organisations across the globe to help GO1 achieve its potential,” Mr Bassat said.

Larsen Ventures investment director Andrew Larsen said he was excited to be a part of GO1.com’s growth journey.

“I’ve seen GO1 grow from strength to strength and have wanted to be involved with the company for a while now,” Mr Larsen said.

“We’re really pleased to be involved in this funding round and are excited with where the company is headed. They’ve proved their ability to execute every step of the way, and their vision and continued results are a great fit with Larsen Ventures.

GO1.com CEO and co-founder Andrew Barnes said: “we’re excited to have the support of M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, and we’re looking forward to what we can achieve with this new investment”.

“We see many opportunities on the horizon given our mission to improve workforce productivity is a view shared by GO1.com, SEEK and Microsoft,” Mr Barnes said.

“Professional development is critical to any organisation and GO1.com helps some of the largest brands and government agencies fulfil workforce training needs.

“We continue to attract leading content partners from around the world aimed at boosting the depth and breadth of our courses,” Mr Barnes said.

GO1.com has more than 500,000 courses and learning resources in total from a variety of content partners. More than 22 million users have access to GO1.com’s content through its platform and integrated partner network.

Customers include ANZ Bank, Delta, Hasbro, NBC Universal, St John Ambulance, Suzuki and Thrifty.

Last year, GO1.com was named in the Top 25 most sought-after startups in Australia by LinkedIn.