360Learning acquires Looop for $20M

Learning and development (L&D) has become a prominent area of investment during the pandemic. There is a myriad of reasons for this but the predominant causes are a need to upskill existing talent as millions have left work as part of the ‘Great Resignation‘, and the fact that development is also increasingly an ask of candidates.

Two companies that have seen their value reach new heights over this period of investment have been Looop and 360Learning.

360Learning is a collaborative learning platform that is available as software as a service (SaaS). The platform enables companies to build internal training modules and as a result, 360Learning managed to raise $200 million in December.

This money was raised with the goal of being invested in mergers and acquisitions. 360Learning was evidently quick to get to work as it has acquired Looop for $20 million in under a month.

Looop automates L&D workflow and provides a better user and customer experience, and this led the company to an annual growth rate of 100%, and a projected ARR of $6.5 million by end of 2022. Given the fields that both these companies occupy, and the success they have found, this could be a fruitful acquisition. 

Why has 360Learning acquired Looop?

Speaking about the acquisition and the goals of the companies, Nick Hernandez, founder and CEO of 360Learning, said: “Together, 360Learning and Looop will build a new era of collaborative learning where subject matter experts are fully utilized, L&D workflows are fully automated, and L&D professionals go from admins to true collaborative operators with a laser focus on data-driven performance.

“Our respective teams’ shared passion for transformational technology, simple UX and customer success will help bring about this new era. One that will be built on the incredible customer satisfaction scores we’ve both already achieved, and the rapid growth we’ve both already experienced.”

Ben Muzzell, founder and CEO of Looop, also shared this enthusiasm: “We started Looop because L&D deserved better than the outdated technology they were being burdened with. They needed tools to be true collaborators, not just administrators, so that’s what we built, and that’s what we’ve seen work fantastically well.

“360Learning saw the same need at the same time, and to now join forces with combined resources, complementary approaches, and a shared belief in collaborative learning is unbelievably exciting.”

David James, Looop’s chief learning officer, added: “I joined Looop as chief learning officer because Looop was the first LMS I had seen that truly focused on learner performance and not the old, ineffective, top-down L&D approach that I knew first hand didn’t work.

“I’ve been beating the drum of collaborative, progressive L&D ever since, and now as L&D grapples with the triple hit of remote work, the Great Resignation, and the looming skills shortage I’ll be beating the same drum even harder — this time with the resources, technology, and support of 360Learning. It’s both an incredible opportunity and incredibly timely.”

Whether 360Learning makes any more acquisitions is yet to be seen, but this move highlights the substantial progress the platform wants to make.