Funding rounds, training acquisitions and two partnerships are included in today’s Tech Roundup.

Udemy, Randstad

Online learning platform Udemy announced it raised $50 million in a series F funding round at a pre-money valuation of $3.25 billion. The firm serves 35 million students, and the funding came from global edtech and growth funds, including Learn Capital.

Randstad US had announced this week a partnership with Udemy to offer free educational courses to US workers who are already placed or looking for roles through Randstad. Examples of topics and skills covered by courses include Amazon Web Services, PHP, Python, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

While announced this week, the partnership has already been in place and Randstad US reported participants consumed more than 3,800 hours of course content during the first two months of the program.

K12 rebranding, acquisitions

Stride Inc. is the new brand for online education services provider K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN); the change takes effect Dec. 16.

“The Stride brand recognizes that, as a company, we are no longer limited by the boundaries of the K-12 market, and that we are dedicated to supporting lifelong learning and providing personalized, high-quality education in important career pathways that launch good paying careers,” CEO and Chairman Nate Davis said.

K12 announced the name change on Tuesday along with two acquisitions — Tech Elevator and MedCerts.

Tech Elevator is a provider of technology training and employee reskilling. It has campuses in several US cities as well as remote learning and cites a 92% job placement rate for its grads.

K12 is buying Tech Elevator for $23.5 million in an all-cash transaction. Tech Elevator’s revenue was up 47% year over year in the 12 months ending Sept. 30 for total revenue of $11 million.

Tech Elevator will operate alongside K12’s Galvanize subsidiary. “Where Galvanize bootcamps enroll advanced beginners in software engineering and data science bootcamps, Tech Elevator expands Stride’s total addressable market by admitting students across the country with no coding experience,” according to the company.

The second acquisition was of MedCerts, a provider of online training courses in the healthcare and medical fields to help participants receive certifications. The Livonia, Michigan-based firm also connects certified healthcare workers with employers.

K12 is paying $70 million for MedCerts in an all-cash transaction that also calls for contingent consideration to be paid in fiscal year 2022.

MedCerts revenue rose 38% year over year to $19 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30.

Kelly Services, Rangam

Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) announced its Kelly Discover program to connect employers with neurodiverse, “opportunity talent” and underrepresented talent for full-time and contingent roles.

The first efforts of the program include helping neurodiverse talent — workers who are on the autism spectrum — as well as 18- to 24-year-olds who are neither in school nor work.

The program includes a partnership with IT staffing firm Rangam to use its SourceAbled solution for hiring workers on the autism spectrum in an effort to help clients meeting their diversity and inclusion goals. The Kelly solution can function as a stand-alone diversity and inclusion strategy or it can be integrated into existing MSP and RPO programs.

“Our inclusive recruiting process helps companies overcome challenges in engaging potential neurodiverse hires and retaining them. The key to our program’s success is to identify career opportunities that match with candidates’ strengths,” said Nish Parikh, CEO of Rangam.

Kelly is also joining forces with workforce development groups and other organizations to provide a bridge to the world of work.

TestGorilla

TestGorilla, an online skills assessment platform and provider of video interviewing, raised $1.2 million in a seed funding. The Amsterdam-based company operates in 40 countries, including the US, and counts staffing firms as its clients.

The funding came from seed-stage venture capital firm CapitalT and a group of international angel investors. TestGorilla reported it is getting 150 free trial signups per day from companies around the world.

TestGorilla was founded by Wouter Durville and former Bain & Co. partner Otto Verhae.

Cooper

Cooper, a company that is building a professional network platform based on introductions, announced that it raised $2 million in seed funding, TechCrunch reported.

“Everything that happens in the network is based on the foundation of introductions,” Robert Gaal, CEO of the Amsterdam-based company, told TechCrunch. “You should never get an unwanted message, and there’s no such thing as a connection request, because it’s not necessary if you have an introduction.”

This article contains a correction from a previous version in the reporting on Kelly Services and Rangam.