NYC-based micro-learning content platform Grovo has been acquired by Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, a publicly traded learning and human capital management software company for $24M in an all-cash deal. “The acquisition of Grovo helps fulfill the vision we had on day one for Cornerstone to improve access to education on a global basis. As leaders in learning, we know that Grovo has some of the most innovative training content in the world,” said Adam Miller, Cornerstone’s founder and CEO. “United with our state-of-the-art Learning suite and our Content Anytime subscription offerings, the combination with Grovo places Cornerstone in a league of its own.”
Founded in 2010 by Jeff Fernandez, Nick Narodny, and Surag Mungekar, Grovo had raised investment totaling $73.M across six rounds, representing venture investment that equals more than three times the announced acquisition price. The company’s last round was in 2017 for $11.3M. Backers of the company include Accel, Lerer Hippeau, BoxGroup, Uncork Capital, Social Starts, Brainchild Holdings, Costanoa Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Vayner/RSE, Raine Ventures, Thomas Lehrman, Greg Waldorf, Andrew Ferenci, and David Honig. Grovo has over 300 clients including Chevron, Wells Fargo, BuzzFeed, Dataminr, and IHG.
Cornerstone OnDemand went public in 2011 and was backed by venture firms that include Bessemer Venture Partners, ff Venture Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, and Bay Partners. This marks the second recent disclosed acquisition for Cornerstone this year. In September, the company announced the acquisition of Santa Monica-based Workpop, a company that Cornerstone had previously funded through its investment arm.
