Mail.ru to set up new education unit based on Skillbox, GeekBrains

MOSCOW, Aug 10 (PRIME) -- Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group jointly with Skillbox founders and Alexander Galitsky’s private fund will establish Skllbox Ltd., an education holding based on Skillbox and GeekBrains, the group said on Tuesday in a statement.

“I am more than convinced that in today’s world, online education is essential for everyone. It is the most accessible tool for learning from the best teachers and quickly acquiring new skills regardless of your physical location. By 2023, we are planning to make our educational projects available to 10 million people, helping them master new subjects, grow professionally, obtain an occupation or move to a new field,” Mail.ru Group CEO (Russia) Boris Dobrodeev said.

Mail.ru Group will remain the majority shareholder with a 50.06% stake, while Skillbox and Galitsky’s private fund will hold 22.72% and 14.21%, respectively, and 13% will be reserved for a long-term employee incentive program.

The group said once the two platforms, which are parts of the ecosystem of Mail.ru Group’s social network VKontakte, merge, Skillbox Ltd. will become the country’s leading educational service provider.

The companies will pool their financial resources together for the most efficient growth, scaling, and geography expansion. The education holding will be managed by Dmitry Krutov, co-founder and CEO of Skillbox.

The consolidated revenue of Skillbox and GeekBrains totaled 4.3 billion rubles in January–June, more than doubling from 1.9 billion rubles in the same period of 2020.

The companies will continue to use the existing brands for promoting their educational products.

(73.5078 rubles – U.S. $1)

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