{"id":40615,"date":"2019-07-12T07:30:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T11:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stagingweb.trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=40615"},"modified":"2019-07-09T12:55:33","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T16:55:33","slug":"ma-in-corporate-training-investments-and-acquisitions-of-the-second-quarter-of-2019","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/learning-services-and-outsourcing\/ma-in-corporate-training-investments-and-acquisitions-of-the-second-quarter-of-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"M&A in Corporate Training: Investments and Acquisitions of the Second Quarter of 2019"},"author":27,"featured_media":40616,"template":"","tags":[2339,3604,1472,2338,983,1222,102],"class_list":["post-40615","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-acquisitions","tag-funding","tag-ma","tag-mergers","tag-training-companies","tag-training-market","tag-training-suppliers","global_topic_tax-compliance","global_topic_tax-content-development","global_topic_tax-it-and-technical-training","global_topic_tax-leadership","global_topic_tax-learning-services-and-outsourcing","global_topic_tax-learning-technologies","global_topic_tax-measurement-and-analytics","global_topic_tax-performance-management","global_topic_tax-sales"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Taryn Oesch, CPTM","author_image":17376,"author_bio":"Taryn Oesch is the award-winning managing editor for digital content at Training Industry, Inc. and co-host of The Business of Learning, the Training Industry podcast<\/a>.","excerpt":"The second quarter of 2019 saw significant activity in assessment and evaluation, compliance training, e-learning, IT and technical training, leadership training, learning technologies and human capital management (HCM) platforms, and sales enablement.","main_content":"Each quarter, we gather the industry\u2019s mergers, acquisitions and funding from the previous three months to share some of the major trends. The second quarter of 2019 saw significant activity in assessment and analytics, compliance training, e-learning, IT and technical training, leadership training, learning technologies and human capital management (HCM) platforms, and sales training and enablement.\r\n\r\nAssessment and Analytics<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn April, OutMatch, a predictive talent and culture analytics company, and The Devine Group, a human resources (HR) technology company, merged into one company under the name OutMatch<\/a>. Later that month, Examity, a proctoring company serving colleges, employers and certification providers, announced<\/a> a $90 million investment from private equity firm Great Hill Partners to expand the company and \u201csupport continued research and development into the application of machine learning and biometrics.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn May, Stephanie Lischke, founder and principal of Positive Developments, acquired assessment management services provider Franklin & White<\/a>. The firm serves executive coaches, leadership consultants and executive education providers as well as learning and development (L&D) professionals. Later that month, Criteria Corp., an employee analytics platform, announced<\/a> a $56 million investment from Sumeru Equity Partners \u201cto accelerate product innovation and growth,\u201d according to the press release.\r\n\r\nCompliance and Health Care Training<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn April, HammerTech, a mobile health, safety and quality software company for the construction industry, announced<\/a> a $10 million Series A funding round led by Arrowroot Capital. GIBLIB, a platform of on-demand medical lectures and surgical videos in 4K and 360-degree virtual reality (VR), closed<\/a> $2.5 million in seed funding. The Access Group acquired Unicorn<\/a> and its digital learning suite for training, governance, risk management and compliance.\r\n\r\nLater that month, RiskLens closed<\/a> a $20 million Series B round led by Paladin Capital Group \u201cto expand leadership in cyber risk quantification,\u201d according to the press release. Renovus Capital Partners acquired a major interest in KSM Consulting<\/a>, a technology, data and management consulting firm whose offerings include cybersecurity training.\r\n\r\nAlso in April, Simplify Compliance sold Argosy Group<\/a> in order to focus more \u201con its core markets: human capital management, healthcare, environmental health and safety, and communications,\u201d according to the press release. Jensen Hughes, a \u201csafety, security and risk-based engineering and consulting\u201d company<\/a>, acquired Hillard Heintze, a risk management and investigation services firm. Adtalem Global Education acquired the financial services division of OnCourse Learning<\/a>, a compliance training, licensure preparation, continuing education and professional development firm, for about $121 million in cash, and Salary Finance announced<\/a> a $32.8 million Series C round led by Blenheim Chalcot and Legal & General. Salary Finance offers companies financial wellness solutions for their employees.\r\n\r\nMay saw one acquisition and two funding rounds in this space. Thoma Bravo acquired a majority stake in Cority<\/a>, an environmental, health, safety and quality software company, and Modern Health, a mental well-being benefits<\/a> platform provider, announced a $9 million Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins. KnowBe4, a cybersecurity awareness training and simulated phishing platform<\/a> provider, acquired CLTRe, \u201ca Norwegian company focused on helping organizations assess, build, maintain and measure a strong security posture.\u201d\r\n\r\nShortly thereafter, KnowBe4 announced<\/a> a $300 million funding round led by KKR, valuing the company at $1 billion. On the same day, another cybersecurity awareness training company, CybeReady<\/a>, closed $5 million financing and entered the North American market.\r\n\r\nAlso in June, BARBRI, a legal education provider, acquired<\/a> The Center for Legal Studies and its online programs and courses for paralegals and other legal support professionals. Private equity investment firm Inverness Graham invested in Syntrio and Lighthouse Services<\/a>, merging them to form a company with \u201ca unified, comprehensive risk management and compliance solution,\u201d according to the press release. Finally, Afya Limited, a health care education company<\/a>, filed a $100 million IPO.\r\n\r\nE-Learning<\/strong>\r\n\r\nApril saw one of the biggest deals of the quarter with Coursera\u2019s $103 million Series E equity round<\/a> led by SEEK Group. SEEK Group also invested<\/a> $62.63 million to become a 50% owner of The Open University\u2019s FutureLearn social learning platform this month. Echo360, a higher education and continuing education platform<\/a>, raised $3 million of a $5 million round, and Learnship, an online and face-to-face language training<\/a> provider, acquired GlobalEnglish, a digital English language training company<\/a>. Golden, \u201ca self-constructing knowledge database built by artificial and human intelligence,\u201d<\/a> announced $5 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz.\r\n\r\nIn May, publishing companies McGraw-Hill and Cengage<\/a> announced an all-stock merger, and OpenSesame, an e-learning company<\/a> with an online catalog of curated courses, announced a $28 million growth equity round led by FTV Capital. Finally, in June, Unacademy, which calls itself India\u2019s largest learning platform<\/a>, closed a $50 million Series D funding round led by Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.\r\n\r\nIT and Technical Training<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAnother major acquisition this quarter was 2U\u2019s acquisition of \u201cworkforce accelerator\u201d Trilogy Education Services for $750 million in cash and stock<\/a>, which was announced in April and closed in May<\/a>. Also in May, Pluralsight acquired GitPrime<\/a>, a \u201cdeveloper productivity platform,\u201d for $170 million in cash.\r\n\r\nAlso this quarter, MIS Training Institute, an information security, IT audit and internal audit training company<\/a>, acquired LeaderQuest, a cybersecurity and IT training and job placement company, and Hack The Box raised $1.3 million \u201cto further [its] effort in becoming the world\u2019s largest hacker community,\u201d according to an article by Tech.eu<\/a>. In May, By Light Professional IT Services acquired Metova Federal<\/a>, a cyber range and cybertraining services provider for the U.S. government.\r\n\r\nBongo, a video assessment provider<\/a>, acquired SLIDE21, a consulting company specializing in agile team development, Scrum training and certification, and business analysis. Later that month, A Cloud Guru, an online cloud computing training and talent development company<\/a>, announced a $33 million growth equity investment led by Summit Partners. In June, Bitwise Industries raised $27 million in Series A financing led by Kapor Capital and New Voices Fund. One of the largest Series A rounds ever raised by a Latin American woman<\/a>, this funding \u201csupports the company\u2019s goal of activating human potential for the technology industry in underdog cities.\u201d\r\n\r\nLeadership Development and Performance Management<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThis quarter, executive search and leadership advisory firm Spencer Stuart acquired Aon\u2019s<\/a> culture and engagement, leadership assessment and development, succession planning, and HR effectiveness businesses. Another leadership consulting firm, Egon Zehnder, acquired a minority stake in Sinequanon<\/a>, a Swiss company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics to help organizations improve their culture and performance. In June, mobile coaching<\/a> company BetterUp announced a $103 million Series C funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners<\/a>.\r\n\r\nIn April, O.C. Tanner acquired Indian employee recognition company Kwench<\/a>, and Engage2Excel Group of Companies, acquired Rideau, an employee recognition company. Learning Technologies Group acquired Breezy HR<\/a> and its recruitment software, and Howamigoing, a feedback and performance management platform<\/a>, raised $1.11 in seed funding led by angel investors.\r\n\r\nIn May, consulting and talent solutions company Eliassen Group acquired Credere Group<\/a>, a professional services and management consulting firm. The next month, InComm, a payments and technology services company, acquired Hallmark Business Connections<\/a>, Hallmark Cards\u2019 business-to-business incentives subsidiary. LandrumHR acquired hrQ<\/a>, a professional services firm offering talent strategy and talent management, organizational design, workforce planning and analytics, and interim HR talent and HR executive search. Finally, Fellow.app, a manager software company<\/a>, announced $6.5 million in seed capital from Inovia Capital, Felicis Ventures, Garage Capital and angel investors.\r\n\r\nLearning and HCM Technology<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn April, Synapse closed<\/a> $2.5 million in seed financing to grow its platform, which \u201cautomates the instructional design process,\u201d according to the press release. Pearson announced a $50 million investment \u201cto participate in Series A and Series B financings for education startups, including boot camps, next-gen assessment and credentialing platforms, learning tools and augmented reality technology,\u201d according to a TechCrunch article<\/a>.\r\n\r\nAlso in April, 360Learning, a learning engagement platform<\/a>, announced a $41 million Series B investment from Bpifrance, Hi Inov \u2013 Dentressangle, XAnge, Educapital and ISAI. Instructure filed a Form D<\/a> with a total offering of $12.5 million, Credly announced<\/a> $11.1 million in funding from ZOMA Capital and Strada Education Network, and Northpass closed<\/a> a $4 million Series A funding round led by Edison Partners.\r\n\r\nThat month, PrismHR, a software company for human resource outsourcing (HRO) service providers<\/a>, acquired AgileHR, a cloud-based talent management software company. Alight Solutions, a HCM and financial solutions company, acquired<\/a> \u201cthe Workday and Cornerstone OnDemand cloud practices of Wipro Limited.\u201d QOREBOARD, a \u201cprovider of Performance Management as a Service (PMaaS\u2122) solutions,\u201d<\/a> closed a $1.6 million seed funding round led by IDEA Fund Partners. Rippling, an \u201cemployee management system\u201d provider<\/a>, raised a $45 million Series A round led by Mamoon Hamid of Kleiner Perkins, and Bonusly, an employee recognition platform provider, raised $1.5 million in a funding round led by FirstMark Capital and Bloomberg Beta, according to an article from BuiltInColorado.com<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThis market segment was busy in April. Also that month, Eightfold.ai, a \u201ctalent intelligence platform,\u201d<\/a> raised $28 million in Series C financing led by IVP, \u201cmaking it one of the most well-capitalized AI solutions for talent management,\u201d according to the press release. Lattice, a people management platform company<\/a>, announced a $15 million Series B funding round led by Shasta Ventures.\r\n\r\nIn May, Wiley agreed to acquire Knewton<\/a>, \u201ca provider of affordable courseware and adaptive learning technology,\u201d and Absorb Software acquired Torch LMS<\/a>, a SaaS LMS provider. Interplay Learning, an online VR and simulation training provider for the skilled trades<\/a>, closed a $5.5 million Series A funding round led by S3 Ventures, and Acendre acquired ICS Learning Group<\/a>, creating \u201ca powerful, secure end-to-end talent management solution\u201d for government and regulated industries. Enghouse Systems acquired video software solutions provider Vidyo<\/a> for approximately $40 million, and 3Play Media, a video accessibility services company<\/a>, announced an investment from Riverside Partners.\r\n\r\nAlso in May, Engagedly, a performance management and employee engagement software company<\/a>, acquired Management Mentors, a SaaS mentoring software company. ENGAGE Talent announced<\/a> $3.5 million in funding, led by High Alpha Capital and Grand Ventures, \u201cto accelerate the innovation and scaling of its groundbreaking AI Talent Intelligence technology,\u201d according to the press release.\r\n\r\nThe next month, Learning Pool acquired HT2 Labs<\/a> and its Learning Locker learning record store<\/a> and Curatr learning experience platform<\/a>. Enboarder, a cloud-based onboarding company<\/a>, closed $8 million in Series A financing led by Greycroft, and MentorcliQ, a mentoring software company<\/a>, closed $6.3 million in growth capital financing. Curiious closed a $2 million funding round in conjunction with the launch of its virtual reality training platform, according to an HR Technologist article.\r\n\r\nAlso in June, PredictiveHR, a SaaS company<\/a> that uses machine learning \u201cto predict talent trends and their financial impacts,\u201d raised $1 million from angel investors. Perkbox, which created an employee experience platform, raised $16.91 million led by Draper Esprit, according to a TechCrunch article<\/a>. Finally, VC Circle reported a pre-Series A funding round<\/a> of $1.26 million for Dockabl, a performance management platform company.\r\n\r\nSales Training and Enablement<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe final segment that saw funding this quarter, sales training and enablement<\/a>, was led by a $114 million Series E round of funding for sales engagement platform Outreach<\/a>. The April funding was led by Lone Pine Capital. Also in April, SalesLoft, another sales engagement platform company<\/a>, announced $70 million in Series D funding led by Insight Partners.\r\n\r\nIn May, Pitchboy, a VR sales and customer service training company<\/a>, closed a $675,000 seed funding round. The next month, Highspot, a sales enablement platform provider<\/a>, announced a $60 million Series D funding round led by ICONIQ Capital. Cien, an \u201cAI-powered sales productivity solutions\u201d company<\/a>, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Elaia, and sales enablement company Showpad<\/a> raised $70 million in Series D funding led by Dawn Capital and Insight Partners.\r\n\r\nWhat are your predictions for the training market for the next quarter? Let us know by tweeting us\u00a0@TrainingIndustr<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0emailing us<\/a>.\r\n\r\n[hubspot type=\"form\" portal=\"47185625\" id=\"7e962f31-7bb4-497b-a425-af60588bd3a9\" version=\"v4\"]\r\n\r\n