<article>Australia&#8217;s employment marketplace SEEK Group has taken up a 50 per cent stake online courses platform FutureLearn  for £50 million ($64.6 million). The Open University owns the remaining 50 per cent in the platform.</article>

Australia&#8217;s employment marketplace SEEK Group has taken up a 50 per cent stake online courses platform FutureLearn  for £50 million ($64.6 million). The Open University owns the remaining 50 per cent in the platform.
“This investment allows us to focus on developing more great courses and qualifications that both learners and employers will value,&#8221; said FutureLearn CEO Simon Nelson.
London-based FutureLearn was launched by The Open University in December 2012 to test opportunities offered by digital learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs). To date, it has over nine million users on its platform, offering short online courses right through to postgraduate diplomas and certificates and fully online degrees, all designed around social learning.
“Our partnership with SEEK and the investment in FutureLearn will take our unique mission to make education open for all into new parts of the world,&#8221; said The Open University Vice Chancellor Mary Kellet.
The new partnership with SEEK will have contractual arrangements in place to protect The Open University’s academic independence, teaching methods and curriculum.
Last week, ASX-listed SEEK Group invested in a <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/coursera-seek-132809/">$103 million Series E round </a>in online learning startup Coursera along with Australia&#8217;s sovereign wealth fund Future Fund and VC firm New Enterprise Associates.
Commenting on FutureLearn, SEEK co-founder and CEO Andrew Bassat said: &#8220;This investment follows the same logic applied to IDP and Online Education Services ‘OES’ in that we like to invest in disruptive business models that provide world class student education outcomes.
Also read:
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/coursera-seek-132809/">Online learning startup Coursera bags $103m Series E funding</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/warburg-pincus-leads-140m-round-in-chinese-education-firm-gaosi-132141/">Warburg Pincus leads $140m round in Chinese education firm Gaosi</a>

London-based FutureLearn was launched by The Open University in December 2012 to test opportunities offered by digital learning courses.

Australia's SEEK Group picks 50% stake in UK's FutureLearn

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