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Image credit: Motimate

In the current work scenario due to the Covid-19, there has been a rise in remote and hybrid work across various sectors. And the demand is needed by organisations to keep their employees engaged in a fun, easy way, and to build a strong team spirit and culture. This is where Kahoot steps in to make a difference.

Kahoot acquires Motimate

In a recent development, the Norwegian game-based learning platform, Kahoot, has announced the acquisition of Motimate, an employee engagement and learning app provider for organisations.

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The news comes as Kahoot continues its mission to strengthen its focus on employee engagement, having acquired Actimo in September 2020 and launched the Kahoot 360 Spirit initiative in Q1 2021.

Actimo (acquired in 2020) and Motimate have more than 250,000 active employees globally on their platforms, combined.

Transaction details

Kahoot has acquired 100 per cent shares of Motimate AS in between $25M – $27M (approx €21M – €22.7M) in cash and debt-free deal. This transaction also includes a 2021 performance-based element, representing an approx 5x multiple on annual recurring revenue (ARR) target for 2021.

The settlement will be a combination of cash and Kahoot shares and is expected to be completed in April 2021.

Motimate makes learning fun, easy & rewarding

Based in Oslo, Norway, Motimate was founded in 2017 and is currently led by CEO Rolf Risnes. It is a mobile-first application that makes learning fun, easy and accessible for everyone. The platform is used by enterprise users across more than 35 countries worldwide. 

Motimate’s app motivates its over 130,000 users to learn and engage through powerful content modules (called Motis) in different formats such as videos, quizzes, podcasts, games, illustrations, text, and animations. 

The app prioritises ease-of-use, making it simple for administrators and creators to generate content no matter where they are. Motimate’s more than 230 enterprise customers include giant brands such as 7-Eleven, Staples, and Manpower. The company employs more than 40 people in 7 countries.

Aim of this acquisition

Kahoot says this acquisition is a part of a strategy to accelerate the building of the next generation of tools for employee engagement, product development, and expand its product road map further. 

The addition of Motimate will add valuable new team resources to the Kahoot Group, including additional enterprise sales resources and a strong product and technology team. 

Speaking on the development, Rolf Risnes, CEO of Motimate, says, “From the very beginning of the Motimate journey we have had international ambitions. The fantastic Motimate team is always pushing limits, and we’re really proud of our recent growth. Teaming up with Kahoot is hugely exciting, and we can’t wait to get started leveraging our synergies to accelerate product development and expand our international reach.”

Kahoot aims for a stronger position in the market

Eilert Hanoa, CEO of Kahoot, says, “The acquisition of Motimate is another exciting step in Kahoot’s strategy to build the world’s leading learning platform and expand Kahoot at Work’s offerings even further. The synergies between Kahoot 360 Spirit, our employee engagement platform – Actimo, and now Motimate, will give Kahoot a stronger position in the market, and help us move faster by adding to key competency areas such as sales and product development.”

Kahoot is used by organisations of all sizes, including 97 per cent of Fortune 500 companies, to level up engagement and learning. 

Its product, Kahoot 360 – a collaborative platform, helps companies to make knowledge sharing engaging, bring distributed teams closer, and connect via engaging training, presentations, and events, in-person or remotely.

Launched in September 2013, Kahoot provides a game-based learning platform for any individual or corporation to create, share, and play learning games for engagement. In the last 12 months, more than 250 million games have been played on the Kahoot platform with 1.5 billion participating players in 200 countries. 

It has offices in the US, the UK, France, Finland, Denmark, and Spain. In the past, the company has acquired DragonBox – math learning app; Poio, learn to read app; Drops – language learning app; Actimo – employee engagement platform; and Whiteboard.fi – the online whiteboard tool for all educators, teachers, and classrooms.

Earlier in March 2021, Kahoot announced that it moved from Euronext Growth to the main list on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The development marked an important milestone in the company’s history and its vision to grow as a leading learning platform worldwide. Kahoot! ASA is listed under the ticker “KAHOT.OL”.