The education company that measures success in jobs, not clicks - free courses, mentor-led degrees, and the first fully online apprenticeships.
The OpenClassrooms wordmark - a brand that began in 1999 as the free French tutorial site Le Site du Zéro before two teenage founders grew it into a global platform.
OpenClassrooms is a Paris-based online education company that treats learning as a means to employment. Where many platforms sell a video and wish you luck, OpenClassrooms wraps courses in mentorship, real projects, accredited credentials, and - unusually - apprenticeships that place learners inside real companies.
The company offers hundreds of free, open-access courses across IT, technology, business and digital skills. On top of that sits a paid layer: premium subscriptions, structured learning paths, and full degree programs that run from bachelor's to master's level. Each degree path is anchored by scenario-based projects and one-to-one sessions with a mentor who works in the field.
Its defining move was to put apprenticeships online. During an apprenticeship, a learner works part-time for an employer and spends the rest of the week training toward a certification. Employers get talent for hard-to-fill roles; learners get paid, mentored, and credentialed without taking on debt. It is a model that ties the school's reputation directly to whether its graduates get hired.
Programs span data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, low-code and web development, business, human resources, and even early childhood education - deliberately mapped to roles where employers report shortages. Courses are delivered in French, English and Spanish, and the degrees are recognized under the European Qualifications Framework across roughly 50 countries.
Our mission is to make education accessible.- OpenClassrooms, company mission
OpenClassrooms sits between two groups who need each other: people who want in-demand careers, and employers who cannot find enough qualified people to fill them.
Individuals seeking a first job, a promotion, or a full career switch. Many start on free courses; some progress to funded, debt-free apprenticeships. In 2024, over 43,000 learners credited the platform for their career outcomes.
Companies such as Merck, IBM and Capgemini use OpenClassrooms to source and train talent for roles they struggle to fill - increasingly through its UPLIFT solution and registered apprenticeships.
Public bodies have funded access - including a 2015 French government deal giving unemployed citizens free premium memberships, and partnerships with agencies in Morocco and Tunisia.
The problem it targets is stubborn: quality education is expensive and slow, employers can't hire fast enough for digital roles, and free online courses have famously low completion rates. OpenClassrooms' answer is not more content - it is a human mentor, a real project, an employer on the other side, and a credential that counts.
Hundreds of open-access courses across IT, tech, business and digital skills - the top of the funnel and the accessibility promise.
Freemium tiers unlocking unlimited content, certificates and structured learning paths.
Project-based diploma and degree paths with 1:1 mentoring, recognized under the European Qualifications Framework.
The first fully online apprenticeship model - learn part-time, work part-time, debt-free and employer-sponsored.
A B2B talent solution sourcing and training candidates for hard-to-fill roles via apprenticeships and coaching.
Associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees following WSCUC accreditation of the apprenticeship-degree model.
Revenue comes from three places: individual premium subscriptions, funded degree and apprenticeship programs, and enterprise talent solutions. Free courses draw people in; employers and governments pay for outcomes.
Where does it fit in the market? Alongside Coursera, Udemy, Udacity and edX - but with a different bet. Rather than a self-serve video catalog or a pure MOOC, OpenClassrooms competes on mentorship, accredited degrees, and apprenticeships. Its edge is outcomes and accountability: it once offered a "Job Guarantee" refunding tuition to graduates who didn't find work within six months.
| Round | Amount | Date | Lead & notable investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series A | $5M | 2015 | Alven Capital, Citizen Capital |
| Series B | $60M | 2018 | General Atlantic, Alven, Bpifrance |
| Series C | $80M | Apr 2021 | Lumos Capital Group (lead), GSV Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Salesforce Ventures |
Total funding reported ~ $149M across rounds. Figures per public sources; approximate.
Mathieu Nebra, later joined by Pierre Dubuc, launches a free community site of programming tutorials.
The community site is incorporated, offering online courses on a freemium basis.
Dubuc and Nebra relaunch with a mission to make education accessible.
Raises $5M and gives unemployed French citizens free premium access.
Mentor-supported, project-based degrees recognized under the European Qualifications Framework.
Raises $60M, becomes a mission-driven company, pioneers fully online apprenticeships.
Closes $80M with CZI and Salesforce; earns B Corp certification.
U.S. Department of Labor recognizes programs; launches Merck apprenticeship.
A major U.S. accreditor recognizes the debt-free apprenticeship-degree model.
OpenClassrooms' expertise is education engineering at scale - blending self-paced content with human mentorship and employer-designed programs. That know-how traces directly to its founders.
Leads the company's education-to-employment strategy. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (social entrepreneurship) in 2016.
Started the original tutorial site as a teenager in 1999. Named an MIT Innovator Under 35 in 2015.
A mission-driven company since 2018 and a certified B Corp since 2021, measuring success by learners' careers, not just course sales.
OpenClassrooms was the first school to offer online apprenticeships - letting learners earn while they learn.- On the company's apprenticeship model
It offers hundreds of free, open-access courses. Premium subscriptions, degrees and apprenticeships are paid - though many apprenticeships are employer- or government-funded and debt-free.
Yes. Degrees are recognized under the European Qualifications Framework across roughly 50 countries, and in 2025 the U.S. accreditor WSCUC accredited its apprenticeship-degree model.
Pierre Dubuc and Mathieu Nebra, who met online as teenagers over programming tutorials and relaunched the platform as OpenClassrooms in 2013.
Rather than selling standalone videos, it pairs project-based learning with mandatory 1:1 mentorship, accredited degrees and online apprenticeships focused on employment outcomes.
In-demand fields including data, AI, cybersecurity, web and low-code development, business, human resources and early childhood education - in French, English and Spanish.