UOL EdTech, the education technology arm of the Brazilian Grupo UOL, announced the acquisition of Qulture.Rocks, a performance management platform. The operation will enable UOL EdTech to create an unprecedented offer combining performance management solutions and employee experience with corporate training and online content. As with other recent acquisitions by the group, the transaction value was not disclosed.
“Qulture.Rocks strengthens UOL EdTech’s momentum to join companies with solutions that add value to our platform and customers, in tune with our strategy,” said Alex Augusto, CEO of UOL EdTech, in a statement to the press and investors. “At the same time, our training and content solutions will add even more power to the Qulture.Rocks platform. Clients now have a single solution that solves the main talent management and workforce training challenges, with features such as 1:1 assessment, feedback, goal management, IDP (individual development planning), succession planning, and people analytics, among others,” said the executive.
UOL EdTech has made several investments to increase its portfolio of products and services. In March 2021, the company announced the acquisition of Passei Direto, a peer-to-peer education platform with 4 million active users in the period and which has now doubled its size and began operations in Mexico. The acquisition took place shortly after the company received a SoftBank Latin America Fund investment. At the time, UOL had already made it clear that expanding its portfolio was one of the investment’s goals.
In times of business going digital due to post-pandemic context, an acquisition like Qulture.Rocks beefs up UOL’s presence in the distance education and training segment, an area whose demand has grown due to the deeper adoption of the work-from-home model since 2020.
Qulture.Rocks is the UOL Edtech’s third acquisition in 15 months. In addition to Passei Direto, the company also acquired Skore, which likewise brought the concept of a learning experience platform (LXP) to UOL’s online training venue. “The acquired companies are growing within our strategy. We combine the best of each part, preserve the identity of the companies and combine this with our ability to invest and scale the business,” said Alex Augusto.