Business

Learning Pool expands operations in US with acquisition of Denver firm

Learning Pool founder, Paul McElvaney
Learning Pool founder, Paul McElvaney Learning Pool founder, Paul McElvaney

DERRY-based tech firm Learning Pool has announced its latest acquisition.

The fast-growing online learning company has bought US firm Remote Learner.

The American outfit, which operates from Denver, Colorado, is a specialist in learning management systems (LMS).

Its clients include the Royal Caribbean and Ultimate Kronos groups.

The US firm is the fourth to join the Learning Pool Group in as many years.

The Derry-based company said the Covid-19 pandemic had rapidly changed the online learning market, with business and educational institutions harnessing web-based solutions.

In the summer Learning Pool announced a 32 per cent rise in revenues to £18.1m in the year ending April 30 2020.

It followed the acquisition of Oxfordshire-based HT2 Labs in June 2019, adding organisations such as AstraZeneca, KPMG and HSBC to the group’s portfolio of customers.

Group chief executive and founder Paul McElwaney said the latest acquisition, Remote Learner, would add significant capacity and capability to the group’s North American business.

“We’ve been particularly impressed by the focus on delivering impact to customers that the Remote Learner team prides itself on, which has been especially evident through the Covid pandemic,” he said.

“This acquisition puts the group in great shape to accelerate our already ambitious customer satisfaction and growth targets in the North American region and takes the global Learning Pool team to more than 260 dedicated and talented people.”

Remote Learner’s current president and chief innovation officer, Dr Page Chen, will assume the role of chief executive and join the Learning Pool Group board.

“This acquisition represents a great opportunity to honour our commitment to helping our clients grow their impact,” said Dr Chen.

“The team at Learning Pool has made impressive progress over the last twelve months on bringing together LMS, LXP, analytics, library and custom content solutions into one of the most compelling portfolios in today’s online learning market.

“We have a long history of using technology to improve lives through learning and look forward to driving even more value for our customers.”