Articulate Global LLC, the provider of cloud-based employee training software used by all the companies on the Fortune 100 list, today disclosed that it has landed a $1.5 billion round of funding.

Growth equity firm General Atlantic led the Series A round. 

The investment is notable not only for the hefty 10-figure price tag but also because it marks the first time Articulate has raised outside funding since its launch in 2002. Despite the lack of venture backing, the New York-based company managed to build up a large customer base that includes not only the Fortune 100 but also more than 100,000 other organizations.

Articulate provides two cloud services that enable companies to create browser-based training courses for their employees. The first service, Articulate 360, targets large organizations and is built to work alongside learning management systems, a type of software used in the enterprise to manage employee training initiatives. The company’s other offering, Rise.com, is designed for use by small and midsized businesses that don’t use a learning management system.

Both of Articulate’s services have the same basic value proposition: They enable users to create a training course without needing graphic design or programming expertise. The employees taking the course, in turn, can use a desktop or smartphone to view the learning materials. Articulate has algorithms that automatically adjust training content according to the screen size of the user’s device.

Courses created using the company’s tools can vary greatly in complexity. A course explaining how to connect to the office printer, for example, may consist of only a few blocks of text. To explain more complex tasks, such as how to create a data visualization in a business intelligence tool, users can harness Articulate to create interactive browser-based walkthroughs. A walkthrough for a business intelligence application can provide a simulated version of the application’s interface with visual hints explaining what each button and setting does.

Part of the reason Articulate has managed to acquire more than 100,000 customers is that it provides a broad array of features to reduce the amount of time required to create courses. Users have access to course templates, pre-packaged graphics assets and drag-and-drop tools for customizing those assets. Articulate also offers features for simplifying related tasks, such as collecting feedback from course participants.

By reducing the amount of time involved in the process, the platform can potentially save considerable resources for large enterprises that train thousands of employees a year. The ready-made course components are also useful for Articulate’s other target audience, small and midsized businesses, which can free up the resources that would normally have to be invested in creating custom training materials. 

The $1.5 billion funding round the company announced today values it at $3.75 billion. General Atlantic was joined in the investment by Blackstone Growth and ICONIQ Growth. Articulate plans to use the new capital to acquire more customers and expand its roughly 300-strong workforce, which is expected to triple over the next few years.

Articulate’s $3.75 billion valuation and large customer base suggest that the company is generating significant revenue. It also indicates that the company’s investors believe there are still plenty of growth opportunities ahead.

Image: Articulate