• US-based DataCamp acquired UAE’s Optima for USD 15M, integrating its AI-native learning technology into DataCamp’s global platform.
• Optima founder Yusuf Saber becomes DataCamp’s Chief AI Officer, while the rest of Optima’s employees join the company.
  DataCamp launches free AI and data courses in UAE for students, educators, and government employees through DataCamp Classrooms.

Optima

US-based edtech DataCamp acquired UAE-based Optima in a USD 15 million deal. As part of the deal Optima founder and CEO Yusuf Saber will join DataCamp as Chief AI Officer. Additionally,  the rest of the company’s employees will join DataCamp as part of the deal.

“By bringing Optima’s AI-native learning experience into DataCamp’s global platform, and by creating free access for government employees, educators, and students, we have an opportunity to set a new standard for how people in the country learn online,” said Yusuf Saber, founder and CEO of Optima.

Founded in 2013, DataCamp is a data and AI learning platform. It helps businesses, learners and organizations through practical, hands-on upskilling for all skill levels. It aims to deliver comprehensive coverage of every data and AI skill, equipping organizations to lead in an AI-powered future.

Meanwhile, founded in 2021 by Yusuf Saber, Optima is an AI native learning platform for data and AI skill building. Its AI-native learning experience adjusts itself in real time, and tailoring how it paces a lesson. Additionally, it explains concepts and gives feedback to each learner’s individual profile.

AI Learning

Optima’s technology is currently powering key curriculum in the DataCamp platform.  DataCamp’s premium subscribers can choose to use this AI-powered experience, which adapts lessons to the learner in real time.

Over the next 6 months, Optima’s technology will integrate across more of the platform. It is also further supercharging DataCamps’s existing library and net new curriculum.

DataCamp Classrooms intends to launch in the UAE, giving educators and students free access to a library of more than 500 courses. It will cover Python, SQL, Power BI, Java, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, and more. In addition, it will also make its popular “Intro to AI” course free for six months for all UAE Government employees and students.

“The field of data and AI is evolving faster than ever, and DataCamp is focusing on dynamic, human-centered learning to help people and organizations thrive amid upheaval. With the Optima team now part of DataCamp, we’ve never been better placed to redefine how organizations move their people along the learning curve,” said Jonathan Cornellisen, co-founder and CEO of DataCamp.