Global learning company Kahoot! has acquired Clever, a California-based digital learning platform used widely among K-12 schools in the US, the company has announced recently.
As per the transaction terms stated by the company, Kahoot! Group will acquire 100% of the shares in Clever Inc. for an enterprise value of $435 million to $500 million on a cash and debt-free basis, including a performance-based element for 2021-2022. The consideration will be settled by a combination of approximately 82% cash and 18% Kahoot! shares.
Founded in 2012, Clever’s platform brings schools, teachers, students, and application developers together in a single sign-on education network that simplifies accessible learning and provides an easy go-to solution for all users. It seamlessly integrates student and teacher workflow through a marketplace, portal, API-based user management, and single sign-on experience. With Clever, students and teachers can navigate between classrooms and assignments without leaving the platform.
Clever claims to have served 50% of all US students in 2020, with a footprint in over 89,000 schools, representing 65% of the 13,000 K-12 school districts in the US. It says that its platform has engaged over 20 million students monthly, delivering 5.6 billion learning sessions in the same year. Clever has partnered with 600 application developers, including many of the leading global learning providers like Khan Academy, McGraw Hill, and Zoom.
Commenting on the latest development, Eilert Hanoa, CEO of Kahoot! said in a statement,
“Clever and Kahoot! are two purpose-led organizations that are equally passionate about education and unleashing the potential within every learner. Through this acquisition, we see considerable potential to collaborate on education innovation to better serve all our users – schools, teachers, students, parents, and lifelong learners – and leveraging our global scale to offer Clever’s unique platform worldwide. I’m excited to welcome Tyler and his team to the Kahoot! family.”
The partnership between two giants in education technology will provide improved learning solutions and offerings to US schools while accelerating the global expansion of Clever’s solutions alongside Kahoot’s wider stable of EdTech software and services.
Tyler Bosmeny, Co-founder and CEO of Clever, said,
“We founded Clever because we believed that technology can be a powerful lever to make learning more joyful and engaging – and no one embodies that more than Kahoot!. Being part of the Kahoot! family will give us the opportunity to not only continue our mission, but to accelerate our plans to serve international markets. We are inspired to be a part of Kahoot! Group and excited to work with Eilert and the team to unlock the opportunities ahead for schools around the globe.”
As per the deal, Clever will be wholly owned by the Kahoot! Group upon closing of the transaction. Clever will remain an open platform and continue to operate under the Clever brand, as an independent company in the Kahoot! Group.
Kahoot!, launched in 2013, is on a mission to make learning awesome! It aims to empower everyone, including children, students, and employees to unlock their full learning potential, by making its platform easy for any individual or organization to create, share, and play learning games that drive compelling engagement. The Oslo-based company has a large global presence, with 1.6 billion players, from over 200 countries, participating in nearly 280 million games on its platform in the last 12 months alone.
The company, which is backed by the likes of Disney, Microsoft, and Softbank, has made a number of acquisitions in the last few years. The latest is Kahoot!’s fifth in one year. Its family includes DragonBox, Poio, Drops, Actimo, Motimate, and Whiteboard.fi.
