Queensland edtech unicorn Go1 gobbles up UK rival Anders Pink

Brisbane workplace learning platform Go1 has acquired five-year-old rival British content curation startup Anders Pink.

The deal went through late last year for an undisclosed sum amid as part of Go1’s push into the European market after also acquiring Swiss-French edtech Coorpacademy, which delivers French and German language content.

It was a busy year for Go1, which doubled its valuation to A$2.8 billion after $100 million raise last July.

Anders Pink partners with multiple workplace learning content creators, including Go1, to make automated recommendations to users on what to study next to improve their job skills.

North America is Go1’s largest market, but CEO Andrew Barnes now has his focus on building out the European business.

“The acquisition accelerates our ability to deliver and discover the world’s best learning content for individuals, teams and organisations, helping them achieve their learning goals,” he said.

“Go1’s vision is to engage a billion learners and this represents an important milestone on this journey”.

In 2022, the company signed more than 65 partnerships globally, reaching nearly 10 million learners. Customer numbers doubled, year-on-year.

Anders Pink has around 1 million learners using its platform, with a client base that includes Spotify, Scania and Hitachi. It integrates with multiple learning platforms and learning management system providers including Degreed, Docebo, D2L Brightspace, Fuse and Totara.

It was cofounded serial entrepreneur Stephen Walsh , who previously founded Kineo, BuzzSumo. alongside his former Kineo MD, Steve Rayson. Anders Pink Managing Director Michelle Hazelton said the strategic focus of the two companies aligned.

“Go1 and Anders Pink have a shared purpose to curate the world’s best learning content, in any learning platform, for the world’s leading organisations,” he said.

“Through the acquisition, we are gaining the ability to drive greater market impact at significant scale.”

Go1’s backers include Sydney edtech investment fund Five Sigma, AirTree, Blue Cloud, Madrona, Salesforce Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Larsen Ventures, Scott Shleifer and John Curtius from Tiger Global, Steve Baxter’s TEN13, Microsoft’s venture fund M12, SEEK and Y Combinator.

The Brisbane startup previously raised US$200 million (A$273m) in a Series D in July 2021 and has now raised around US$400 million.