OpenSesame
OpenSesame is an Austin-based online learning platform founded in 2011 that delivers a curated catalog of 60,000+ training courses in 70+ languages, AI-powered custom course authoring, and compliance and workforce development content to enterprise, mid-market, and non-profit organizations across regulated and global industries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What OpenSesame does
OpenSesame, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, operates an online training course and learning platform that delivers workforce development content to enterprise, mid-market, and non-profit organizations across regulated and global industries. The core product is a curated marketplace of 60,000+ pre-vetted courses in 70+ languages spanning mandatory compliance, safety, leadership, industry-specific skills, business skills, and technology training, with courses matched to roles, skills, and organizational strategy through a hybrid of human curators and AI-powered matching. On top of the marketplace, the company offers Simon, a generative-AI course authoring tool that lets subject matter experts produce custom training in under an hour, grounded in learning science, and an AI Innovation Lab in Austin that uses intelligent agents to accelerate internal product development.
The platform monetizes primarily through subscription-based licensing of the course catalog to organizations, with flexible organization-level pricing and annual billing; specific seat-based tiers are not publicly disclosed and are quoted via sales. Revenue is supplemented by AI-powered course creation services and custom course development. Distribution combines enterprise field sales (guided demos and dedicated account managers) with a self-serve marketplace and a channel-partner ecosystem that includes Meridian LMS, EHS Insight, and the AWS Partner Network, allowing content to be embedded inside customers' existing learning, HR, safety, and cloud systems rather than requiring a standalone platform adoption. The customer base spans insurance, financial services, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, logistics, energy/utilities, and education, with named logos including Siemens, Bridgestone, Land O'Lakes, Toshiba, ADT, Aspen, and Travel Leisure. Security posture is supported by SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, and the company has been recognized on G2's enterprise learning platform category as a High Performer and Best Support vendor in Winter 2025, and won a Gold Award at the Learning Technologies Awards 2025.
Operationally, OpenSesame employs 251–500 people and is actively hiring across product, engineering, and AI roles in Austin as of 2026 to support the AI Innovation Lab and partner integrations. The company has raised approximately $97 million across five disclosed funding rounds (2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021), with the most recent a $50 million growth equity investment led by JMI Equity in July 2021 amid remote-work-driven demand for professional development. Recent strategic activity has concentrated on AI capability expansion (Simon, AI Innovation Lab), vertical-channel partnerships (EHS Insight for safety, Meridian for government and enterprise LMS), and channel expansion through AWS, indicating an offensive posture around AI differentiation and embedded distribution rather than defensive restructuring.
OpenSesame firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OpenSesame
- Legal name
- OpenSesame
- Website
- https://OpenSesame.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- OpenSesame is an Austin-based online learning platform founded in 2011 that delivers a curated catalog of 60,000+ training courses in 70+ languages, AI-powered custom course authoring, and compliance and workforce development content to enterprise, mid-market, and non-profit organizations across regulated and global industries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OpenSesame industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Corporate E-Learning and Workforce Training Platform
- NAICS
- Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Computer Training (611420)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Information Technology & Software (EDAAAPAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Training Delivery Services (Onsite/Virtual Instruction, Workshops, Coaching) (BPAEANAN), Systems Administration & IT Operations (Windows/Linux, Monitoring, ITSM) (EDABAFAH)
Keywords
Where OpenSesame is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
OpenSesame business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Course marketplace and subscription licensing: OpenSesame generates revenue primarily through licensing its curated course catalog to organizations on a subscription basis. Organizations pay for access to the marketplace of 60,000+ courses, with flexible pricing options for different organizational sizes and needs. Additional revenue comes from AI-powered course creation tools (Simon) and custom course development services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Flexible organization-level pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
OpenSesame product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OpenSesame operates an AI-native workforce development platform built around a curated online training marketplace of 60,000+ pre-vetted courses in 70+ languages, covering compliance, safety, leadership, technology, and business skills. The company pairs this catalog with Simon, an AI-assisted custom course creation tool that enables subject matter experts to build training in under an hour, and delivers the platform through subscriptions, direct enterprise sales, and integrations with LMS, EHS, and HR systems.
Product overview
OpenSesame is an online training course and learning platform consisting of two main product offerings: the OpenSesame Marketplace, a curated catalog of 60,000+ pre-vetted courses in 70+ languages covering compliance, safety, leadership, technology, and business skills; and Simon, an AI-assisted custom course creation tool that enables subject matter experts to build bespoke training content quickly. The platform delivers integrated software, curated and customizable content, and expert services embedded into existing learning, HR, and work systems to support workforce development and AI upskilling at scale.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Simon: AI-powered course creation platform designed for subject matter experts (SMEs), enabling users to create custom courses from their own expertise, grounded in learning science, with the ability to create courses in under an hour.
Products and services
- OpenSesame Marketplace A curated online training course catalog offering 60,000+ pre-vetted courses in 70+ languages, matched to user roles, skills, and organizational strategy by AI-powered curation backed by human experts. Covers mandatory training, compliance, safety, leadership, technology, and soft-skill development for enterprise and mid-market organizations.
- Simon AI-assisted custom course creation platform designed for subject matter experts. Powered by AI and grounded in learning science, it enables organizations to build custom courses from their own expertise, with the ability to create courses in under an hour using AI-powered content generation, translation, and LMS delivery capabilities.
Quantifiable outcome
- Organizations report saving hours of time through curated content and resources vs. building every training from scratch.
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use OpenSesame
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
OpenSesame technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
OpenSesame partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- EHS InsightcoreStrategic partnership integrating OpenSesame's 50,000+ online training courses into the EHS Insight safety management software platform. The integration enables organizations to assign, deliver, and track compliance and safety training within existing EHS workflows, connecting learning outcomes to safety activities such as incidents, inspections, and corrective actions. Supports multi-language, localized training for global workforces.
- MeridiancoreExpanded partnership integrating AI-powered course creation and personalized skill development tools into Meridian LMS. The integration targets government, public sector, and enterprise customers, offering tailored and scalable training solutions through Meridian's learning management system.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreOpenSesame is a member of the AWS Partner Network (APN) and holds AWS Qualified Software designation. This partnership enables OpenSesame to leverage AWS infrastructure and reach AWS's enterprise customer base, providing cloud-based learning solutions.
- LMS and Technology Partner EcosystemcoreOpenSesame maintains a broad partner ecosystem of learning platform integrations. The company states 'No matter your tech stack, we'll fit right in with the tools you use,' indicating deep integration capabilities with various LMS, HR, and work systems.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights7 records
OpenSesame competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Skillsoft: Skillsoft is an established enterprise learning platform offering content, virtual instructor-led training, and compliance solutions across technology, leadership, and business skills — comparable to OpenSesame on compliance and enterprise training, but with a wider portfolio of modalities and proprietary content.
- Coursera for Business: Coursera for Business provides enterprises access to courses from top universities and industry partners, with credentials and skill measurement — comparable to OpenSesame on enterprise content breadth, with greater prestige via university partnerships and enterprise credentials.
- Workday Learning: Workday Learning is an enterprise LMS embedded within the Workday HCM suite, serving HR/L&D buyers already on Workday — comparable to OpenSesame as enterprise learning infrastructure for HR-driven training, with broader HCM-suite distribution.
- LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning (Microsoft) is a leading enterprise video-based learning platform with broad catalog coverage and tight integration with LinkedIn's talent graph — directly comparable to OpenSesame's enterprise marketplace offering, with the added advantage of Microsoft's distribution and HR data assets.
Direct peers
- LearnUpon: LearnUpon is an enterprise LMS with course marketplace integrations and a focus on compliance and employee training — comparable to OpenSesame on compliance training and mid-market enterprise delivery, with deeper LMS platform functionality.
- Docebo: Docebo is an AI-powered enterprise LMS with a learning marketplace and custom content authoring, serving similar HR/L&D buyers as OpenSesame — comparable on enterprise LMS + marketplace + AI features, with stronger LMS platform capabilities and content partnerships.
- Degreed: Degreed is a learning experience platform aggregating content from multiple providers, with skill measurement and AI-driven personalization — directly comparable to OpenSesame's marketplace-plus-AI-matching value proposition for enterprise L&D teams.
- Go1: Go1 is a corporate learning content aggregator with a global marketplace of courses from third-party providers, similar model to OpenSesame Marketplace — directly comparable as a content-aggregation marketplace serving enterprise L&D and compliance buyers globally.
- Pluralsight: Pluralsight focuses on technology and developer skills training for enterprises, with skill assessments and hands-on learning paths — comparable to OpenSesame's technology and IT-skills training segment, with deeper depth in developer/IT operations content.
- Udemy Business: Udemy Business is the enterprise arm of Udemy, offering a large marketplace of on-demand courses with subscription access, multi-language content, and LMS integrations — directly comparable to OpenSesame Marketplace as an aggregator model serving corporate L&D buyers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OpenSesame social profiles
Digital presenceOpenSesame compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
OpenSesame financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OpenSesame leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
OpenSesame funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OpenSesame M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about OpenSesame
What does OpenSesame do?
OpenSesame operates an AI-native workforce development platform built around a curated online training marketplace of 60,000+ pre-vetted courses in 70+ languages, covering compliance, safety, leadership, technology, and business skills. The company pairs this catalog with Simon, an AI-assisted custom course creation tool that enables subject matter experts to build training in under an hour, and delivers the platform through subscriptions, direct enterprise sales, and integrations with LMS, EHS, and HR systems.
Is OpenSesame a public or private company?
OpenSesame is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was OpenSesame founded?
OpenSesame was founded in 2011. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is OpenSesame based?
OpenSesame is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does OpenSesame make money?
One revenue line is on record: course marketplace and subscription licensing.
Who are OpenSesame's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Skillsoft, Coursera for Business, Workday Learning and LinkedIn Learning. Direct peers are LearnUpon, Docebo, Degreed, Go1, Pluralsight and Udemy Business.
Does OpenSesame have an API?
No public API is recorded for OpenSesame.
What industry is OpenSesame in?
OpenSesame's product category is Corporate E-Learning and Workforce Training Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAAAPAB, Information Technology & Software, with a secondary code of BPAEANAN, Training Delivery Services (Onsite/Virtual Instruction, Workshops, Coaching). Its NAICS code is 6114 and its SIC code is 8200.