Derry’s Learning Pool snaps up New York e-learning company

6 Jan 2022

Learning Pool chief executive Ben Betts. Image: Learning Pool

The acquisition of True Office will help Learning Pool further expand its presence in North America.

To meet growing global demand for online learning services, Derry-based e-learning company Learning Pool has acquired True Office Learning.

This is the company’s fifth acquisition in as many years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

New York-based True Office creates programs and behavioural technology for organisations to improve the way employees undertake compliance learning. It adapts to individual needs with the aim of managing risk, driving better business outcomes, and saving companies both time and money.

With Fortune 100 clients such as pharma giant Pfizer as well as food and beverage behemoths Mondelez and Cargill, True Office programs have been deployed to more than 17m users in 65 languages.

“True Office Learning represents a significant step in our journey to create extraordinary outcomes for companies who invest in learning,” said Learning Pool chief executive Ben Betts.

“The True Office Learning team has developed the most trusted and innovative offering in the compliance space today and we couldn’t be more excited about bringing the technology and team into our Stream Learning Suite,” he added.

Betts said that most large companies rely on legacy learning management platforms that limit what they can measure, personalise and automate for employees. But because the nature of work has changed dramatically since the onset of the pandemic, the workplace learning landscape is being reshaped.

“Together, Learning Pool and True Office Learning will be able to demonstrate the advantages of delivering compliance learning through an LXP [learning experience platform] to meet critical business needs today,” he said.

Following the acquisition, Learning Pool will employ nearly 400 people serving more than 1,400 customers and partners from nine offices around the world: two in Northern Ireland, three in the UK and four in North America.

Neha Gupta, chief executive of True Office, said that her company has changed the way compliance teams think about training and data in the few short years since it spun out from the New York Stock Exchange.

“Having accelerated the adoption of our adaptive, insights-focused technologies to serve more than 300 leading organisations, we have shifted compliance training from ‘check-the-box’ to measurable, personalised experiences that yield actionable intelligence on the learners,” she added.

In 2020, Learning Pool acquired another US company, Remote Learner, to expand its business in the region. The acquisition of True Office adds significant capacity to the presence of Learning Pool in North America, where it has offices in Boston, New York, Denver and Ontario.

Last year, it was announced that Learning Pool would create 100 new jobs in the UK and US after getting a new owner.

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Vish Gain is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com