OpenSesame Inc
 | |
| Type of business | Online education |
|---|---|
Type of site | Online Courses and Training |
| Available in | English, French, German, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Chinese |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Decentralized, Global |
| Key people | Don Spear, Joshua Blank, Aaron Bridges |
| Industry | eLearning |
| Employees | 250 |
| URL | www |
| Registration | Required |
| Current status | Active |
OpenSesame Inc. is a global educational technology company that provides an online marketplace for buying and selling online courses focused primarily on employee training.[1] The company was founded in 2011[2] and operates as a decentralized organization to a global market.
History
[edit]The company was founded in 2011 by Don Spear, Joshua Blank, Aaron Bridges and Tom Turnbull.[3] The website functions as an ecommerce platform where users buy and sell courses for employee training and personal education.[4][5] As of 2014, the company had raised $10 million in funding from investors.[6]
As of January 2025, OpenSesame hosted over 40,000 courses from over 100 publishers spanning 30+ languages.[7]
Software
[edit]OpenSesame operates a "course marketplace" that aggregates training material from hundreds of publishers across nine categories. Training categories include safety, compliance, business skills, technology, and leadership among others.[8] These courses are made available to subscribers who can use OpenSesame software to build training programs and export them to third-party LMS products for consumption.
The company also offers a course creation tool with translation features in 70+ languages[9] and a talent growth platform focused on personalized training programs and assessments.[10]
Patent Law
[edit]Since 2010 the company has held a patent on a remote learning system called “Open and Interactive E-Learning System and Method". This patent was challenged in 2022 by Australian elearning company "Go1" to cancel all patent claims. After a year of proceedings the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final decision on February 26, 2024 in favor of OpenSesame.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ Mathôt, Sebastiaan; Schreij, Daniel; Theeuwes, Jan (2012). "OpenSesame: an open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences". Behavior Research Methods. 44 (2): 314–324. doi:10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7. ISSN 1554-3528. PMC 3356517. PMID 22083660.
- ^ Andy Giegerich (7 February 2013). "Meet the 40: OpenSesame's Josh Blank VIDEO". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Mike Rogoway (10 July 2014). "OpenSesame, out on its own, works to upgrade 'e-learning'". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Rip Empson (14 Jan 2014). "OpenSesame Lands $8M To Become The iTunes Of Corporate Training Content". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Mike Rogoway (13 January 2014). "OpenSesame, Portland e-learning startup, raises $8 million". Oregon Live. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ "Marketplace". OpenSesame: Online training today for the skills you need tomorrow. Retrieved 2025-03-15.
- ^ "Marketplace". OpenSesame: Online training today for the skills you need tomorrow. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "Simon". OpenSesame: Online training today for the skills you need tomorrow. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ "Oro by OpenSesame | Personalized AI Learning for Workplace Skills". OpenSesame: Online training today for the skills you need tomorrow. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ Peet, Ellen (2024-04-02). "PTAB upholds validity of all claims of OpenSesame's patent". Patent Lawyer Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-17.