SafetyCulture deepens its COVID response with $29M acquisition of ‘micro-learning’ app

September 16, 2020  |  Startland News Staff

Darren Winterford, EdApp CEO, and Luke Anear, SafetyCulture CEO; photo courtesy of Business Wire

An Australian startup with a significant presence in Kansas City has acquired a mobile training app to boost COVID-era education for businesses through free “micro-learning” resources.

“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,” said Luke Anear, CEO of SafetyCulture, detailing how folding in EdApp’s technology is the next step for the company. “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.”

EdApp offers micro lessons downloaded straight to users’ smartphones. Learners acquire knowledge in targeted bursts when it suits them best and can learn at their own pace, according to SafetyCulture, which boasts a Crossroads-based second headquarters in Kansas City. Courses that employ micro elearning typically see completion rates rise from as low as 15 percent to about 90 percent and beyond, the company said in a press release. The app currently delivers about 50,000 lessons per day across more than 90 countries.

Click here to learn more about EdApp, which hails from New York City.

SafetyCulture’s $29 million acquisition of EdApp comes as the Sydney, Australia-born workplace safety and quality platform dedicates its 2020 to helping businesses navigate reopening amid new safety restrictions, Anear said.

In response to COVID-19, SafetyCulture digitized workplace guidance from governments and leading industry bodies across the world into free, ready to use and customizable checklists via its iAuditor app — which already has more than 75,000 users at more than 26,000 organizations.

Click here to learn more about iAuditor.

SafetyCulture employs more than 60 workers in Kansas City. Globally, the company has raised $100 million from investors. 

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2020 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        2020 celebration photos: Startups find value in being watched — $2.6M across 520+ stories

        By Tommy Felts | February 4, 2020

        Editor’s note: The celebration event showcasing Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2020 was sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with communities in education and entrepreneurship to increase opportunities that allow all people to learn, to take risks, and to own their success. Ten of Kansas City’s…

        Ori Goldwasser, Vu Radley, Jonathan "JP" Platz, and Mark Launiu, MADE MOBB

        Three months’ rent in 24 hours: How Chiefs’ Super Bowl run already MADE one brand’s 2020 

        By Tommy Felts | February 4, 2020

        Super Bowl Sunday was a holy time for members of the MADE MOBB, but it was hardly a day of rest for the team behind Kansas City’s most iconic streetwear brand. After prepping the custom T-shirt press in the back of MADE’s Crossroads storefront late Saturday — in hopes of a new, limited drop celebrating…

        Union Station, Kansas City

        Chiefs’ victory parade forces TEDxKC to call an audible, move sold-out event to June 

        By Tommy Felts | February 4, 2020

        The sold-out return of TEDxKC will see a delay of game, as organizers push the popular event back four months to make room for the Kansas Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade and rally Wednesday. “For a couple of weeks, we have been doing the calculus on what we would do if the Chiefs won the…

        Hunter Browning, Ben Schultz, and Tyler Prochnow, LaborChart

        LaborChart builds its value with ‘robust’ Series A capital injection from Five Elms

        By Tommy Felts | January 30, 2020

        A recently closed injection of growth and scale capital will help Kansas City-based LaborChart strengthen its team, expand the company’s market position and accelerate domestic and international growth, said Ben Schultz. The move — finalized in the final days of 2019 and announced Thursday — is expected to jolt the team from a headcount in…