Simplilearn has acquired Market Motive, which provides short-term online courses in digital marketing for professionals, for $10 million.
Simplilearn, which has over 40 accreditations worldwide, already has more than 250 courses for business professionals on topics like Social Media Marketing and Digital Advertising Web Analytics. Simplilearn intends to add Market Motive’s courses on topics like SEO, web analytics, social media marketing, conversion optimization, mobile marketing, PPC advertising, and content marketing to their catalogue.
CEO and founder of Simplilearn Krishna Kumar said:
The digital marketing ecosystem is at the tipping point and this is the right time for us to expand our products in this hot segment. We are impressed with Market Motive’s enriched content and domain expertise backed by industry experts apart from their approach towards online training, which fits strongly with our business strategy.
They have educated about 40,000 professionals, and Market Motive has enrolled about 30,000.
Michael Stebbins, the co-founder and CEO of Market Motive, said:
There are more than 1.3 million unfilled full-time positions for IT and developers, but 22 million people in the US who are underemployed.
We look forward to providing an even higher level of service, an ever-expanding list of certifications, and an enhanced customer experience through improved video delivery, user experience, and customer support. As a hiring manager, I see the need for short-term certification to put knowledgeable workers in higher-paying roles. Degree or not, the economic value of these courses is huge and it is rewarding to see lives changed through the training.
Stebbins will be joining Simplilearn as Chief Innovation Officer and will continue to operate as chief executive, writes the Business Standard.
According to Alok Soni of Your Story, Simplilearn plans on developing more certifications for specific employers with Market Motive, who has delivered programs to Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Dell, and Federal Express, and institutions like Duke University, Benedictine University, and Concordia University. Corporations who have invested in Market Motive certification for their employees include Microsoft, Dell, Ogilvy, Burson Marsteller, Catalyst, Home Depot, Federal Express, JP Morgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, Marriott, AARP, Gannett Publishing, Fidelity, Harvard Business Review, Yamaha, and the American Marketing Association.
Stebbins has high aspirations for serving the corporate sector:
By the end of 2015, we hope to partner with lots of corporate entitlement systems to help their teams gain skills.
According to Inc42, Simplilearn raised $15 million in Series C funding in April of this year to make this purchase, with participation from Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners, with the goal of expanding in the US.
Simplilearn is based in Houston, TX in the US, with its worldwide base in Bengaluru, India, writes Charley Locke of edSurge. Market Motive, based in the Silicon Valley, was founded by Michael Stebbins, John Marshall, and Avinash Kaushik in 2007.
