About Udacity
Udacity was founded in 2011 by Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford professor and former Google executive who helped lead Google's early self-driving car program, along with David Stavens and Mike Sokolsky, growing out of an extremely popular free online artificial intelligence course Thrun had co-taught that attracted hundreds of thousands of enrolled students globally, an early and influential example of the "massive open online course" (MOOC) format that helped spark broader interest in online higher education alternatives, before Udacity pivoted from a broader MOOC model toward a more narrowly focused strategy centered on "nanodegree" programs, structured, several-month-long online credential programs focused specifically on in-demand technical skills relevant to technology industry careers.
Udacity's nanodegree programs, covering subject areas including data science, programming languages, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and various other technology skill areas, have been developed in direct partnership with major technology companies, including companies like Google, Amazon, and various other technology employers who have helped design program curricula intended to closely reflect the specific practical skills these companies actually look for when hiring for relevant technical roles, an approach the company has argued produces more directly job-relevant technical education than more traditional academic computer science curricula that may not always closely track the specific practical skills and tools most in demand in current technology industry hiring. The company has positioned its nanodegree programs as a more focused, career-outcome-oriented alternative to both traditional four-year computer science degrees, which represent a much larger time and financial investment, and to broader, less structured free online course offerings, aiming to occupy a middle position offering more structured, employer-informed curriculum and credentialing than free MOOC content while requiring meaningfully less time and cost investment than a traditional college degree. Udacity's customers span individual learners seeking specific technical skill credentials relevant to career advancement or career change, as well as corporate customers purchasing Udacity programs as employee technical training and upskilling benefits. The company has raised substantial venture funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Bertelsmann, which later acquired full ownership of the company.
