The company is set to meet the challenges faced by Germany’s surging hi-tech new age car industry which is currently facing a shortfall of software engineers. In fact, BMW is set to overhaul its entire R&D department to include more software engineers.
As per the co-founder of Udacity, the online education company plans on branching out of its core technology sectors so as to meet growing demands in other areas for digital skills in areas including the car industry.
The start-up which has now a value of more than $1 billion, is betting that its focus on vocational courses for professionals will help it stand out in the fast growing educational market. Incidentally, it also works for search engine giant, Google.
According to Research a Markets, a market research firm, the educational industry is set to double from its $43.3 billion in 2015 to $97.8 billion in 2020.
Publishers such as Pearson has recognized this threat to textbook business and has invested heavily in Udacity’s main financial backer, German publisher Bertelsmann (BTGGg.F).
“We have spoken to many CEOs in sectors like automotive, telecommunications and others – banking – and interest is very high,” said Sebastian Thrun who co-founded Udacity with Mike Sokolsky and David Stavens in 2011.
Incidentally, Thrun is also a co-founder of the Google-X research lab which led to the development of Google’s autonomous self-driving car technology.
Thrun pointed out that there is a growing demand for software engineers in the German car industry in order to meet the hi-tech features of tomorrow’s car. He went on to add that currently there is a shortfall in Germany for such job profiles.
Case in point: BMW has recently outlined a complete overhaul of its research and development staff of which a big percentage would be software engineers.
Udacity’s current clients include internet giants such as Google and Facebook. Its courses include subjects as software development, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
“At the moment we are active in a niche market, but we plan to expand,” said Thrun at Udacity’s newly-opened Berlin office.
Currently Udacity operates in India, China, Egypt and in the United States.
Dismissing concerns regarding a recent drop in funding for educational technology, as data from CB Insight, a research firm shows that funding in the educational sector has fallen by 57% in 2016 to just $1.3 billion from its previous year record of $3.1 billion.
“(This) is not a small niche market … it impacts almost everybody who works. What we are offering will happen, no matter what,” said Thrun.
Categories: Creativity, Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Strategy
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