OpenSesame Inc

OpenSesame Inc. is a Portland based educational technology company that provides an online marketplace for buying and selling SCORM e-learning courses focused primarily on employee training. Its online training platform, directly connects content providers with employees and businesses for online training resources and specially designed courses for professionals, which can be accessed through a Learning management system.[1][2][3] The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. As of January 2016, OpenSesame tracks around 20,000 courses from more than 300 vendors.[4]

OpenSesame
Type of businessOnline education
Founded2011
Headquarters1629 SW Salmon Street, Portland, OR 97205
Key peopleDon Spear, Joshua Blank, Aaron Bridges, Tom Turnbull
IndustryeLearning
URLwww.opensesame.com
RegistrationRequired
Current statusActive

History

The idea to start OpenSesame came to the founders Don Spear, Joshua Blank, Aaron Bridges and Tom Turnbull in 2011.[5] They founded the company on the idea to aggregate fragmented elearning content from reputable publishers and resources including FranklinCovey, Cegos and Wiley through a Learning Management System (LMS).[6][7][8] They worked on creating an ecommerce platform where any seller can add courses for sale and any buyer can purchase courses for use in their company's learning and development program.[9] They went through the Portland State University Business Accelerator and after conducting a few pilot trials, OpenSesame received seed funding of $2 million from Harmony Investments on October 2011.[10][11] The company soon gained some major clients including satellite TV giant Dish Network, SilkRoad Technology, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. In January 2014 the company raised another round of Series A funding of $10 million led by Partech Ventures to create a corporate content delivery platform modeled after iTunes.[12][13][14] The marketplace allows the seller to set the price of the content, with a share in the profits for distributing through OpenSesame's marketplace. On July 22, 2014 OpenSesame was granted US Patent Number US 8784113 B2 for their “Open and Interactive e-Learning System and Method.”[15][16]

Development

Since 2011, the OpenSesame development team has been focusing on the content and the development of features in line with the businesses' needs. The main concern of the company is not to build up a large number of new features on its marketplace, but to concentrate upon a few elaborated tools that can integrate with the various LMS’.[17][18]

Use

OpenSesame is used in continuing professional development for employees and professionals via courses obtained online. Its platform allows companies to buy courses created by industry experts instead of having to create their own.[19] It allows businesses to search for courses offered by its sellers, they can preview the content, read reviews and know about the content seller.[20][21][22]

Accessibility

OpenSesame is the first marketplace to comply completely with the accessibility specifications of Sharable Content Object Reference Model.[23][24] The content is also designed for adaptability to any of several teaching and learning scenarios with a variety of authoring tools compatible to any learning management system and custom business tools.

References
  1. "OpenSesame™ Unlocks an Open Marketplace for e-Learning at DevLearn 2010". Learning Solutions Magazine. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  2. "OpenSesame: Making Magic for Online Training Courses". Portland State University. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  3. Manon Garnier (20 January 2014). "OpenSesame ambitionne de devenir la plus grande plateforme de elearning pour les entreprises". L’Atelier BNP Paribas. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. Mike Rogoway (10 July 2014). "OpenSesame, out on its own, works to upgrade 'e-learning'". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  5. Andy Giegerich (7 February 2013). "Meet the 40: OpenSesame's Josh Blank VIDEO". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  6. "SilkRoad Partners with OpenSesame to Deliver Personalized eLearning Solution". SilkRoad. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  7. Kim Oates (27 October 2010). "Portland-Based Technology Company BlueTech, LLC Expands". Bluevolt. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  8. "Off the shelf courses". E-Learning India. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  9. Mike Rogoway (10 July 2014). "OpenSesame, out on its own, works to upgrade 'e-learning'". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  10. Rick Turoczy (12 September 2011). "OpenSesame unlocks $2 million in funding". silicon Florist. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  11. "OpenSesame Raises $2M in Funding". FinSMEs. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  12. Mike Rogoway (13 January 2014). "OpenSesame, Portland e-learning startup, raises $8 million". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  13. Rip Empson (14 Jan 2014). "OpenSesame Lands $8M To Become The iTunes Of Corporate Training Content". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  14. Malia Spencer (12 January 2014). "OpenSesame's $8M will fuel employee growth in Portland". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  15. , Bridges, Aaron H.; Jason S. Day & Joshua D. Blank, "Open and interactive e-learning system and method"
  16. Rick Turoczy (2 May 2013). "Oregon Technology Awards names Cloudability "Startup of the Year"". Silicon Florist. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  17. "Company Overview of OpenSesame Inc". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  18. Melissa Massello. "Companies Where Millennials Thrive: OpenSesame". Bentley University. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  19. Mike Rogoway (14 February 2013). "Portland's tech renaissance is great for software developers, not so for those looking to hire". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  20. "OpenSesame announces Training Jam in Portland, Oregon April 22–24". Morning Star. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  21. Malia Spencer (30 October 2014). "Why this startup takes a chance on inexperience". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  22. Lorri Freifeld. "ONLINE VS. IN-CLASS SUCCESS". Training magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  23. "OpenSesame Connects Enterprise Learners to Millions of Videos". PRWeb. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  24. "About SCORM Modules". Litmos. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
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