Italian education technology startup, Wyblo has acquired Clay, a Berlin-HQed platform whose communication tools allow colleges to foster student co-operation avoiding “messy WhatsApp chats” around campus.
With this acquisition, both the companies believe that they will complement each other to “enable the delivery of social learning at scale.” Wyblo has made the acquisition to integrate Clay’s communication system, which caters to undergraduate studies, into its own EdTech portfolio. The communication tool will be rebranded as Wyblo and will become the “main social component” to the latter’s services.
Wyblo specialises in corporate training software tools, allowing companies to automate key training rituals and measure the impact and experience of participants. In the latter goal there’s an overlap with its focus on peer participation. The deal will “further increase its share in the learning and development industry.”, the company further mentioned.
Commenting on the acquisition, Founder & CEO of Wyblo, Kevin Giorgis, said:
Wyblo, with the new acquisition, will help our clients connect with their learners to create better learner experiences and more opportunities for learning success.
Wyblo values collaboration and innovation, bringing a people-first approach to all of its decisions. It’s not just a platform, but a community that shows training leaders a way to bloom.
Founded by Christoph Koenig, Clay’s software platform incorporates a host of community-led tools to make direct access to syllabus learnings far easier. Key features include communal learning wikis — imagine having an exam question explained by your smartest classmate, then imagine every exam question being explained without even asking. There are also “team player leaderboards” to spur friendly competition and quick polls to give teachers a snapshot of student sentiment. Understanding how students feel can have a dramatic impact on performance as deadlines and exams draw nearer.
Koenig said that he runs up against decentralised communication tools throughout his studies, and this led to interactions between students becoming sparse, undermining peer-to-peer sharing of knowledge.
The startup claims its clients are able to improve learner outcomes, strengthening engagement through communication while limiting the need for traditional admin. At the time of its acquisition, some of its clients include University of Siegen in Germany and ESCP Business School, a pan-European college with six campuses.
According to the company, it encountered “bureaucratic” and “risk averse ” university processes, but elected to take its marketing outreach directly to students, for instance approaching student unions and housing communities. At the time of its acquisition, some of its clients include University of Siegen in Germany and ESCP Business School, a pan-European college with six campuses.
