MERLOT

What MERLOT does

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) is a non-profit collaborative organization founded in 1997 that operates a curated, peer-reviewed repository of open educational resources (OER). The platform serves higher education faculty, students, K-12 educators, and workforce development organizations globally, with a registered community of 225,441 members across 4,446 member institutions in 195 of 196 UN-recognized countries. MERLOT's core technology is a web-based learning object repository containing 110,811 learning resources organized across 24 Academic Discipline Community Portals and 9 Academic Support Community Portals, augmented by free content creation tools including Content Builder, ePortfolios, bookmark collections, and a Peer Review System for quality assurance.

The organization's product portfolio includes the main MERLOT Collection, Virtual Labs (STEM simulations in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics), the JOLT peer-reviewed academic journal, and SkillsCommons — a companion workforce development repository developed under approximately $2 billion in investment from 700+ contributing colleges, universities, and industries. MERLOT operates through a freemium model providing all services completely free of charge to users, with revenue (where applicable) sourced from institutional partnerships, NSF grants, and California State University System hosting support rather than user fees.

MERLOT is hosted through the California State University System Office of the Chancellor and partners with educational institutions, professional societies, non-profits, government agencies (including NSF and UNESCO), and industries worldwide. The organization's go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on educator networks, professional conference presence, institutional adoption, and organic word-of-mouth within academic communities rather than paid acquisition. Strategic partnerships extend into workforce development (SkillsCommons), international education (JSDC India), public interest technology (New America), and digital equity initiatives (NCDE), positioning MERLOT as infrastructure for open educational access rather than a commercial product.

Name

MERLOT

Legal name

MERLOT

Website

https://www.merlot.org/merlot/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MERLOT is a non-profit collaborative platform founded in 1997 that provides free, peer-reviewed open educational resources to educators, students, and institutions across 195 countries through a curated repository of 110,000+ learning materials.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Educational Resources Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

OER Repositories, Discovery & Metadata Services (EDAGAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Open Lab Manuals & Practical Guides (STEM/CTE) (EDAGAJAG)

Keywords

• Open educational resources
• Digital learning repository
• Online teaching platform
• Faculty development services
• Peer-reviewed learning materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Long Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Free Platform Services: MERLOT provides all services free of charge to educators, learners, and institutions worldwide. The organization operates as a non-profit collaborative, likely funded through grants and institutional partnerships rather than user fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MERLOT is a free, curated online repository of open educational resources (OER) and digital learning tools serving educators, learners, and researchers worldwide. It provides access to 110,811+ peer-reviewed learning materials across 24 academic disciplines, supported by free content-creation tools (Content Builder), Virtual Labs for STEM simulations, and a structured peer-review curation system. The platform operates as a community-driven library led by an international network of 225,441 registered members and 4,446 member institutions, with SkillsCommons extending the model to workforce training.

Product overview

MERLOT is a collaborative digital library and learning object repository system offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational technology products and services. The core offerings include the MERLOT Collection (access to 110,811+ curated learning resources), Content Builder (free content creation tool), the Peer Review System (quality assurance for OER), and JOLT (the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching). The system is complemented by 24 Academic Discipline Community Portals spanning fields from Business to World Languages, and 9 Academic Support Community Portals covering Faculty Development, ICT Literacy, Mobile Learning, and more. SkillsCommons serves as a workforce-focused sister repository with nearly $2 billion in development investment. Virtual Labs provides STEM simulations across Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics. The platform is led by an international community of educators, learners, and researchers, and is free to join and use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SkillsCommons: The world's largest repository of open and vetted workforce training and educational materials, developed under a nearly $2 Billion investment, containing materials from over 700 colleges, universities, and industries.
• Virtual Labs
• JOLT - Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
• Content Builder
• MERLOTx - Student Learning Library

Products and services

• MERLOT Collection The core repository providing free, curated access to 110,811 peer-reviewed online learning and support materials for educators, learners, and researchers worldwide.
• Virtual Labs Free and fee-based virtual laboratory simulations for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, emphasizing scientific methodology and inquiry-based learning for higher-education students.
• Content Builder A free tool that enables educators to build accessible, scalable, multi-page educational websites without web-development expertise.
• SkillsCommons The world's largest free and open repository of vetted workforce training and educational materials, designed for workforce-development organizations and individuals pursuing employment skills.
• JOLT (Journal of Online Learning and Teaching) A peer-reviewed journal publishing articles on online learning and teaching, managed by MERLOT with an international editorial board to support scholarship in online education.
• Fishbanks: A Renewable Resource Management Simulation A multiplayer web-based simulation in which participants role-play fishers competing to maximize net worth while managing fish stocks and testing renewable-resource policy options such as boat auctions, permits, and quotas.
• MERLOTx Student Learning Library A student-facing learning library within the MERLOT ecosystem providing free, open educational resources for learners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Access to peer-reviewed OER across 24 academic disciplines and 9 support areas
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Job Skills Development Center (JSDC) - Tamil Nadu, IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMERLOT partners with JSDC to provide students with free personal learning libraries supporting development of skills, knowledge, and ambition for sustainable employment. MERLOT provides the technology platform while JSDC delivers onsite and online training in India.
• New AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSkillsCommons partners with New America to provide a free and open repository of instructional materials for Public Interest Technology. This collection addresses critical social importance including public use AI, climate and environmental projects, and social/criminal justice.
• National Collaborative for Digital Equity (NCDE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMERLOT-SkillsCommons partners with NCDE to leverage ICT Literacy collections and MERLOT Content for free and open access resources supporting state digital equity plans across the U.S.
• California State University SystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSU System hosts MERLOT through the Office of the Chancellor and has developed virtual labs and other educational technologies through collaborative projects. Multiple CSU campuses utilize MERLOT for course redesign initiatives.
• Online Learning Consortium (OLC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMERLOT and OLC co-conducted 'Ideate Labs for Online STEM: Innovating STEM Education 2020' - a free virtual expo showcasing virtual and distance labs for online STEM education.
• SkillsCommonscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSkillsCommons is the companion workforce development repository to MERLOT, developed under nearly $2 Billion investment. Created by 700+ colleges, universities, and industries, it offers workforce training materials spanning sectors including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, IT, construction, and hospitality.
• UNESCOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change partner associated through JOLT editorial board connections.
• California State University, Long Beach - Center for Usability In Design and AccessibilitycoreTechnology or IntegrationCSULB Center for Usability In Design and Accessibility collaborated on concept and design of Virtual Labs portal, ensuring accessibility compliance.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Open Textbook Library: University of Minnesota-hosted catalog of open textbooks reviewed by faculty. Directly comparable as a free, peer-reviewed OER discovery service targeted at higher education instructors and institutions.
• OpenStax (Rice University): Rice University-affiliated publisher of free, peer-reviewed open textbooks. Directly comparable to MERLOT's mission of providing free, quality-assured educational content to higher education institutions and learners.
• LibreTexts: Open-access textbook and learning resource platform serving higher education with a focus on STEM and humanities. Directly comparable to MERLOT as an OER hub providing free, curated, peer-reviewed educational content to instructors and students.
• OER Commons: Open Educational Resources network curated by ISKME, directly comparable to MERLOT as a free, peer-reviewed OER discovery and hosting platform for educators. Operates similar discipline-based portals and community curation model.
• MIT OpenCourseWare: MIT's free publication of virtually all MIT course content. Directly comparable to MERLOT as a free, open higher-education course content platform with strong institutional backing and global academic audience.
• SkillsCommons: MERLOT's own workforce-focused sister repository developed under ~$2B investment, containing workforce training materials from 700+ institutions. Listed as a peer because it is a distinct but operationally integrated program with its own user base.

Broad incumbents

• Internet Archive: Non-profit digital library providing free access to books, media, and educational resources. Comparable to MERLOT as a non-profit, mission-driven archive/discovery service with global reach, though operating at much larger scale across broader content types.
• Khan Academy: Large-scale free educational content platform with global reach. Comparable to MERLOT in offering free learning resources, but operates with a much larger paid engineering team and broader consumer-brand recognition.
• Coursera: Large-scale online learning platform partnering with universities to deliver courses. Overlaps with MERLOT's higher-education audience but operates on a credentialed/freemium commercial model rather than purely free open access.

Others

• Creative Commons: Non-profit organization that provides the licensing framework enabling MERLOT's open educational resources. Related ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor, but centrally relevant to MERLOT's OER infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MERLOTorg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MERLOTPlace
• Facebookfacebook.com/people/MERLOT-Multimedia-Educational-Resource-for-Learning-and-Online-Teaching/100063477883405
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/showcase/merlot-multimedia-educational-resource-for-learning-and-online-teaching-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MERLOT