Evolution of skills-based learning and employment
This month Adepto, a skills-based Total Talent platform that we have partnered with earlier in the year, has been acquired by Degreed, a US-bred leading provider of Learning Experience Platforms (LXP).
This is an interesting merger as both, Learning Experience and Total Talent, are emerging and fast-growing categories in the wider market of HR tech. Their evolution re-affirms the shift to a skills-based deployment of talent — the hiring of resources based directly on their specific skills, not previous titles or roles. This is particularly pertinent in the world where millennials frequently choose to switch between professions and careers, and where role-defining labels are becoming increasingly less relevant.
Degreed is a workforce learning and skills tracking platform, otherwise known as LXP. It integrates and curates all the resources employees use to learn, in one place, including learning management systems and millions of courses, videos, articles, books and podcasts from thousands of sources.
Degreed’s LXP is the ultimate learning portal that provides employees with key educational tools to help develop their skills. The business along with EdCast and Pathgatherer (now owned by Degreed) are the true pioneers of the LXP products which are gradually displacing the outdated incumbents known under the umbrella term of Learning Management Systems (LMS). The latter are largely focused on compliance use cases and are in pressing need of a makeover to suit the modern demands of the user-centric workplace environments.
The learning systems market is vast. According to the industry research it is already estimated to be worth a whooping $4bn+. The market continues to grow with the help of powerful tailwinds. LinkedIn (owned by Microsoft) entered the learning space with their 2015 acquisition of Lynda.com, now LinkedIn Learning, a website offering learning courses to LinkedIn users. In the last two years LinkedIn have been focused on expanding their learning tools offering.
Degreed’s acquisition of Adepto, the enterprise-grade aggregator of all talent skills, workforce and vacancies, will help improve Degreed’s product stack and unlock a myriad of new job opportunities available to the newly up-skilled workers.
Degreed raised a $35m Series C round and secured an additional credit facility earlier this year giving them the ability to pursue acquisition targets like Adepto.
The acquisition will accelerate Degreed’s ambitious growth plans by adding enhanced skills inventories, on-the-job development experiences and career mobility functionality to the company’s learning experience platform.
Founded in 2013, Adepto is a UK-based business that has grown 150% a year for three straight years, employs more than 40 people and has a strong list of blue-chip clients including PwC, Atos and Capita. It has offices in London, Brisbane and New York. Adepto also partners with many of the world’s leading recruitment process outsourcing and managed staffing providers.
Its technology will give Degreed’s clients the most complete learning experience platform on the market, with formal, informal, social, user-generated, and job development opportunities, all available through one simple, intuitive app.
In May 2019 Conviction Investment Partners (CIP) led Adepto’s £2m Series A round, alongside Triple Point and other existing investors. We are incredibly excited for Adepto to join Degreed’s pioneering journey in the Learning Experience sector. It is a fantastic achievement for both businesses and, as Adepto’s shareholders and lead investors, we remain invested in the merged entity.
We see great strategic synergies between the two businesses and believe that the acquisition will further enhance Degreed’s capabilities and accelerate their high-growth trajectory to a $100m revenue milestone.
