Queensland edtech unicorn Go1 acquires popular German book app as valuation hits $3 billion

Queensland-based edtech unicorn Go1 has pulled off a rare feat for an Aussie startup: acquiring a well-established international startup that itself has raised millions of dollars in VC funding. 

On Tuesday, Go1 revealed it has acquired popular German startup Blinkist, which has amassed tens of millions of subscribers globally for its mobile app that offers summaries of professional books and podcasts in 15 minutes.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed, however, the Australian Financial Review reports it is estimated to be around the $100 million mark. 

If that is accurate, it would make it Go1’s largest acquisition to date. In 2022, the startup acquired European company Coorpacademy to extend its French and German language content, as well as Australian provider Education Changemakers. 

According to the AFR, Go1 raised an undisclosed amount of fresh funding to complete the acquisition, at a valuation above $3 billion. 

When Go1 raised US$100 million in June 2022, it was valued at US$2 billion ($2.8 billion). Go1 co-founder and co-CEO Andrew Barnes confirmed to the AFR that the last funding round was done at a higher valuation to this 2022 figure. 

The latest equity funding comes from existing Go1 investors, including AirTree Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Softbank and Madrona. New investors Insight Partners and Greylock also participated in the round. 

Speaking to SmartCompany, Barnes confirmed that raise, which he said was done to “support the acquisition of Blinkist and ensure the combined company is well positioned for continued growth”.

Corporate learning, supercharged

Blinkist has also attracted significant VC investment since it was founded by Holger Seim, Niklas Jansen, Sebastian Klein and Tobias Balling in 2012. In total, the platform has raised US$35 million in external funding, including from Insight Partners and Greysoft.

The Blinkist platform claims to have more than 25 million users globally, who access a constantly-growing library of 15-minute book and podcast summaries called ‘Blinks’ on the platform. The library includes both professional and personal content, and some 1500 organisations around the world also use the startup’s Blinkist for Business feature for their teams. 

Go1’s Andrew Barnes says the deal opens up a new frontier of corporate learning for the edtech that he founded with Vu Tran, Chris Eigeland and Chris Hood in 2015 with a mission to help 1 billion learners across the world upskill and reskill. 

Go1 achieved unicorn status in 2021, having scaled as an aggregator of learning and development content, which it delivers via its database of 80,000 short-form courses, usually in a corporate setting. 

“The combination of Go1 and Blinkist offers something not replicated in any corner of the corporate learning market: an experience of ongoing learning that services professional goals that’s purpose-built to be personally engaging,” Barnes said in a statement. 

“Go1 is not entering the content production market — we’re combining our existing content aggregation service with Blinkist’s similar service for books to open a new model for consumption of any type of learning content.”

Insight Partners managing director Thilo Semmelbauer said the investor is “thrilled” about the acquisition. 

“Blinkist’s mobile content and product will expand the learning opportunities already available to Go1’s customers and create a powerful pair with Go1’s corporate learning offering,” he said. 

“We’re excited for what’s to come.” 

The Blinkist acquisition means the size of the Go1 team will grow substantially, with the addition of 160 staff to take Go1’s overall headcount to around 760.

The Blinkist brand will also be retained following the acquisition, and Barnes confirmed to SmartCompany that Blinkist’s founders will also stay on with the company, “to lead and expand the consumer learner segment and to help bring Blinkist content experience to Go1 customers”.

The timeline for the integration of the businesses is being worked on, added Barnes, who says Go1 doesn’t have “any current plans for future acquisitions at this time”.

This article was updated on Tuesday, May 9, at 4.30pm to include additional comments from Go1.