It was an exciting first half of the year in the corporate training industry. Learning service providers were busy rolling out artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions and updates, and businesses remained focused on upskilling and reskilling employees to stay competitive in a fast-paced future of work.
We expect more innovative, AI-driven learning solutions and technologies to hit the market throughout this year. In terms of the most common applications for generative AI in L&D, recent Training Industry research found that 39% of learning professionals surveyed are using it for learning personalization; 35% for simulations and 34% for translation/localization.
With a new quarter upon us, let’s take a moment to consider the deals that took place in the market last quarter.
Workforce Development
The workforce development sector saw three deals last quarter, reflecting businesses’ investments in workforce readiness and upskilling:
- Modal, a leading skills development platform for data and analytics, announced a $25 million Series A funding round led by Left Lane Capital and Ensemble VC. Co-founders Darren Shimkus and Dennis Yang, former president and CEO of Udemy, founded Modal “with the intention to help employers reliably upskill their employees through personalized technical and AI skills training,” the press release says.
- In its sixth acquisition since 2020, Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (“Cornerstone”) acquired SkyHive Technologies Holdings Inc. (“SkyHive”). The acquisition further positions Cornerstone as a leading provider of workforce agility solutions.
- Avathon Capital (“Avathon”), a private equity firm exclusively investing in lower middle-market companies in the education and workforce markets, announced its acquisition of Summit Professional Education (“Summit”). Summit is a provider of in-person and online continuing and professional education courses for physical therapists and assistants, occupational therapists and assistants, and speech language pathologists.
Learning Tech
The learning tech segment of the market saw two deals last quarter:
- Learn to Win, a provider of personalized, predictive and secure enterprise training software, raised an oversubscribed $30 million in Series A funding led by the Westly Group, with follow-on participation from Norwest Venture Partners and Pear VC.
- Accenture completed its acquisition of Udacity, a digital education provider. According to the press release, the acquisition adds more than 230 people to Accenture’s LearnVantage business, bringing capabilities in integrating proprietary content, expert services and scalable learning technology, while bridging the gap between online education and workplace relevance.
Personalization
In the personalization and adaptive learning sector:
- Rise Up, a leading integrated learning solution in Europe, announced its strategic acquisition of Domoscio, a France-based, AI-driven adaptive learning provider. With the addition of Domoscio’s AI capabilities, Rise Up is positioned to advance its personalization capabilities to deliver one-on-one learning experiences at scale.
Compliance Training
In the compliance training sector:
- KnowBe4, a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform provider, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Egress, a leader in adaptive and integrated cloud email security.
Other Deals by Market Segment
Leadership Development
- Keystone Partners, a Silver Oak Services Partners LLC portfolio company, acquired the Center for Executive Coaching (CEC), a leader in executive coach certification and training for accomplished professionals.
Sales Training
- SBI, a go-to-market (GTM) growth advisory, acquired Carabiner Group, the RevOps-as-a-Service ® firm, further enhancing its capabilities to support client growth. This is the second acquisition by the firm in less than a year.
IT/Technical Training
- Omniplex Learning, a digital learning solutions provider, acquired Matobo, a provider of National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)-certified eLearning for cybersecurity and general data protection regulation (GDPR).
