Pluralsight

Pluralsight, LLC

Company type	Private
Industry	Online education, e-learning
Founded	2004 (2004)
Founder	Aaron Skonnard, Fritz Onion, Bill Williams
Headquarters	Draper , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Aaron Skonnard (CEO and co-founder)
Products	Video-based training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals; SaaS learning platforms; skills evaluation tools
Number of employees	1,700 (2019)
Parent	Vista Equity Partners (since April 2021)
Website	www.pluralsight.com

Pluralsight, LLC is a privately owned American company specializing in online education, offering video-based training courses designed for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals through its digital platform. Established in 2004 by Aaron Skonnard, Fritz Onion, and Bill Williams, the firm is based in Draper, Utah. By mid-2018, Pluralsight employed more than 1,400 experts and provided over 7,000 courses. Since its online launch in 2007, the company has evolved into a robust enterprise platform featuring integrated skills evaluation tools.

By 2019, Pluralsight reported revenues totaling $500.2 million and had a workforce of roughly 1,700 employees. Its portfolio centers on technology-focused learning solutions aimed at both individual professionals and corporate customers, facilitating organizational growth through scalable digital education offerings.

History

Originally founded in 2004 as a provider of classroom-based training, Pluralsight transitioned to delivering video instruction online by 2007.

In April 2018, the company submitted paperwork for an initial public offering and subsequently debuted on the NASDAQ stock exchange on May 17, 2018. Shares opened at $15 and closed the first trading day at $20.

By 2020, Pluralsight was serving approximately 18,000 business clients, including 70% of the companies listed in the Fortune 500, highlighting its substantial market presence and expansion.

In December 2020, private equity firm Vista Equity Partners announced plans to acquire Pluralsight for $3.5 billion, intending to take the company private pending regulatory clearance anticipated in early 2021. The acquisition was finalized in April 2021 at a price of $22.50 per share. However, in May 2024, Vista Equity Partners fully wrote off Pluralsight’s valuation.

Business model

Pluralsight operates under a subscription-based business model, delivering professional technology training online to both individual learners and corporate clients. Course creators receive royalty payments tied to video viewership; notably, author Scott Allen became the first to surpass $1 million in royalties in 2013.

The company also provides an extensive Software as a Service (SaaS) solution customized for enterprise customers.

By 2017, Pluralsight catered to nearly 40% of the Fortune 500, increasing this reach to 70% by 2019. In that year, sales to businesses accounted for 86% of total revenue.

In the same year, Pluralsight joined the Pledge 1% movement to encourage corporate giving and launched Pluralsight One to support technology education initiatives within nonprofit organizations.

Venture funding

Initially financed by its four founders with personal contributions of $5,000 each, Pluralsight remained self-funded without outside capital for nine years.

In December 2012, the company raised $27.5 million in Series A funding from Insight Venture Partners. This was followed by an additional $2.5 million Series A round in March 2014. On August 27, 2014, Pluralsight secured $135 million in Series B funding from Insight Venture Partners, ICONIQ Capital, and Sorenson Capital—at that time the largest venture capital investment ever received by a Utah-based company. CEO and co-founder Aaron Skonnard observed that the company’s valuation increased from under $100 million in 2012 to close to $1 billion after the Series B round.

In December 2016, a Series C financing round raised $30 million and valued Pluralsight at over $1 billion, with existing investors Insight Venture Partners and Iconiq Capital participating.

Acquisitions

Since 2013, Pluralsight has strategically grown its course offerings, technology capabilities, and executive team through a series of targeted acquisitions.

On July 24, 2013, Pluralsight expanded its portfolio by acquiring PeepCode, which contributed approximately 100 open source courses and diversified its content beyond Microsoft-centric materials. Shortly after, on August 5, the company purchased TrainSignal, a Chicago-based firm, for $23.6 million; this acquisition included integrating 35 employees and retaining the Chicago office location. Later that year, on October 31, Pluralsight brought Tekpub into its fold—known for its screencasts on emerging development technologies—with co-founder Rob Conery and several other authors joining as content creators.

In April 2014, Pluralsight acquired Digital-Tutors for $45 million, significantly expanding its training library to over 3,000 titles encompassing media and design disciplines. About 30 employees from Digital-Tutors became part of the Pluralsight team while maintaining operations in Oklahoma City. On November 19 of the same year, the company added Smarterer, a Boston-based online skills assessment platform supported by Google Ventures, for $75 million; all 18 team members remained with the organization.

The acquisition of Code School from Orlando occurred on January 26, 2015, for $36 million; the entire staff of 39 employees and their office were retained. On July 9 of that year, Pluralsight acquired HackHands, a San Francisco startup providing live technical support through video and chat—marking its seventh acquisition within two years.

On July 19, 2016, Train Simple joined Pluralsight’s portfolio—a company specializing in Adobe software video training.

In May 2019, Pluralsight invested $170 million in cash to acquire GitPrime, enhancing its suite of developer productivity analytics tools.

The company further expanded on October 14, 2020, by acquiring DevelopIntelligence to add instructor-led training services.

On January 12, 2021, Pluralsight purchased Next Tech based in San Diego to enable cloud-native authoring and hosting of labs focused on software development and data science.

Then on June 2, 2021, Pluralsight announced it would acquire Austin-based A Cloud Guru to bolster its cloud technology education platform; this transaction was finalized on July 8, 2021.

Collectively, these acquisitions have been instrumental in broadening Pluralsight’s product range and reinforcing its leadership position within the global technology education market.

Partnerships and community involvement

In October 2012, Pluralsight formed a partnership with Microsoft to provide Pluralsight courses to MSDN subscribers through initiatives such as DreamSpark, BizSpark, WebsiteSpark, and Engineer Excellence programs. This collaboration featured the "Pluralsight Starter Subscription," which included Visual Studio 2012 training content. By November 2014, this alliance expanded to grant MSDN subscribers a full year’s access to select Pluralsight courses.

In May 2013, Pluralsight introduced a free coding bootcamp aimed at children aged ten and older to promote early computer programming skills. The following year, the company collaborated with Utah’s Office of Economic Development to offer K–12 educators complimentary one-year subscriptions to its training library—a contribution valued between $5 million and $10 million as noted by Governor Gary Herbert.

Additionally, in November 2014, Pluralsight partnered with LaunchCode to provide candidates with one year of free course access designed to enhance employment prospects in technology fields. In December of that year, the company supported the "Hour of Code" campaign engaging more than 200 students across Utah.

By 2017, Pluralsight had deepened strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle to expand course catalogs and extend market reach. That September during a panel discussion featuring Ivanka Trump, Pluralsight committed $10 million toward increasing access to STEM education in public schools as part of a broader private-sector investment exceeding $300 million alongside corporations such as Amazon, Google, General Motors, and Facebook.

Also in 2017, Google collaborated with Pluralsight to distribute 100,000 scholarships in India for advanced training focused on emerging technologies including machine learning and cloud computing platforms. In 2020, Pluralsight teamed up with Google and Andela to launch the Google Africa Developer Scholarship program—providing software engineers across Africa with complimentary access to its course library.

See also

• EdX
• FutureLearn
• Khan Academy
• LinkedIn Learning
• Coursera
• Udemy
• Udacity