SafetyCulture Acquires EdApp for $29 Million in Bid to Dominate Online Training Market

Australian tech unicorn SafetyCulture recently acquired the mobile training solution EdApp for $29 million, valuing the start-up at $40 million. The former, which offers digital products to aid workplace safety and management, made the decision to acquire the training app in an effort to follow the growing wave of eLearning services now heavily in demand due to COVID-19.

In a recent press release, SafetyCulture founder and CEO Luke Anear explains the reasoning behind the ambitious venture:

“We’re experiencing the biggest workplace shake-up since economies were rebuilt after World War II. This is not survival of the fittest, this is survival of those that can adapt. The pandemic has made it clear there’s a huge appetite for training as companies look to get safely back to business. EdApp will strengthen our ability to support businesses to do their best work.”

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With over 26,000 customers and branches based in Sydney, Manchester, and San Francisco, SafetyCulture is currently valued at $1.3 billion and has accumulated $60 million in investor funding. The tech firm has invested a total of $9million in EdApp in the last two years, the most recent being the $1million note convertible investment made in early 2020.

Now, with its first acquisition in the training solution, SafetyCulture has shown its vested interest in the eLearning market and looks to use EdApp in a bid to make adult-training services accessible on a global scale.

The app, launched in 2015, delivers approximately 50,000 lessons a day across 90 countries, with courses ranging from cyber security to first-aid. Its simplistic business model centers around the concept of mobile-orientated microlearning and gamification, learners can learn how to code through daily reminders and activities designed for them.

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Similar to SafetyCulture, EdApp is determined to expand its company message of training for all. With the newfound partnership with Luke Anear, founder Darren Winterford is driven to make EdApp a household name.

“The mission that we’re on is to be that household name so that whenever people think of training they pull EdApp out of their pocket and that’s what they use,” Winterford said in a statement.

Together, SafetyCulture and EdApp have seen businesses rapidly engage with the app, creating hundreds of courses and completing thousands of lessons. The pandemic has been a huge factor in this success.

SafetyCulture, specifically, has been working to find innovative and effective ways businesses like EdApp can, not merely survive, but triumph under COVID. They have pledged to make training and ELearning products both accessible and read-to-use for companies around the world who need to find alternative ways to communicate and guide their workforce.

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With the start-up being valued at such a high rate, SafetyCulture’s superfluous investment into EdApp will give it the financial confidence to maximize its digital content and bring in more users.

Mr Winterford explains, “SafetyCulture’s backing will enable us to support teams of any size, free of charge.” EdApp seeks to combat the growing gap in digital skills amongst adults. Their expansion with SafetyCulture will prove to bring a refreshing alternative to workplace training, one users can access in their pocket.