Seattle-based online learning company CreativeLive has been acquired by Fiverr (NYSE: FVRR), a publicly traded company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel that connects businesses with freelance workers.
CreativeLive founder and CEO Chase Jarvis said the company's 25 full-time employees are joining Fiverr as part of the deal, and employees won't have to relocate. The acquisition builds on Fiverr's existing ambitions, as the company had already experimented with a section for on-demand courses through its website.
"This was a big deal to me as an entrepreneur, the fact that they had that and had experimented in it, saw the value of it and then went out to the market to find a company that had scale like we did," Jarvis said. "That was a big vote of confidence."
Jarvis said about two-thirds of the company's employees are based in the Seattle area. CreativeLive will maintain its brand. The companies didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal.
CreativeLive, founded in 2010, offers online classes in subjects like graphic design, drawing and photography. According to the company, it has more than 2,000 classes and has reached more than 10 million users. CreativeLive's classes are available through desktop and mobile, and the company makes revenue through a subscription model.
Fiverr was also founded in 2010, and the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019. The company's marketplace connects businesses with freelancers in services like logo design, video editing and digital marketing. Fiverr reported revenue of $75.3 million during the second quarter of 2021, a 60% year-over-year increase.
CreativeLive has office space overlooking Gas Works Park. Jarvis said the acquisition will give the company more resources, and CreativeLive will invest in more content. Fiverr's online learning business will be folded into CreativeLive. Jarvis said although CreativeLive plans to grow, it's hard to put an exact number on staff projections.
"We've been building this as a function of a vision and a mission to, again, help creators, freelancers and entrepreneurs around the world live their dreams," Jarvis said. "The fact that Fiverr has made very clear that they're investing in not just the way the world works but the way the world learns, that's a really important piece of our puzzle."
