Significantly expanding its online training resources for software developers and IT professionals, Salt Lake City-based Pluralsight has acquired TrainSignal, a similar online training resource based in Chicago, for $23.6 million. The acquisition comes two weeks after the company purchased Seattle-based PeepCode, yet another online training service for open-source programmers.
With the two additions, Pluralsight said it has now become a go-to destination for software developers and IT professionals, two fields that have grown in importance (and in some cases combined) with the rise of cloud-based technology, and a one-stop shop for CTOs and CIOs looking for professional, high-quality, online training.
TrainSignal provides hundreds of online video courses for individual and enterprise users, including Allstate Insurance, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Dell, Disney and Paychex. Its award-winning training spans IT technologies such as VMware, Cisco, Citrix, CompTIA and Microsoft.
Aaron Skonnard, CEO of Pluralsight, said that over the next few months, the TrainSignal course catalog, along with that of PeepCode, will be incorporated into the Pluralsight network, which had previously revolved around software development. The Pluralsight library will expand from 500 courses to more than 1000, also effectively doubling its market size.
Scott Skinger, TrainSignal's current founder and CEO, and Gary Eimerman, the company’s product development director, will join Pluralsight in executive roles overseeing the newly created IT division. And, as with PeepCode, TrainSignal's network of instructors (about 65) is expected to join Pluralsight’s more than 150 other expert authors.
The company said that its wide variety of courses include a focus on IT networking, security and cloud computing technologies. Prior to acquiring TrainSignal, Pluralsight had amassed nearly 300,000 individual users and 3000 corporate accounts across 100 different countries. TrainSignal brings in an additional 100,000 individual users and 1500 corporate memberships. In January 2013, the company received $27.5 million in funding from Insight Venture Partners.
