Cologne, Germany – April 17, 2019 – Learnship, the world’s leading provider of online, face-to-face language training has acquired GlobalEnglish, a leading provider of digital language training. The combination of Learnship and GlobalEnglish will give corporate customers the most comprehensive, single-source solution for online, trainer-led, and blended learning language training.
Since its inception in 2008, Learnship has disrupted the language learning market by helping corporate clients replace traditional classroom programs with its proprietary Virtual Classroom. Its online, face-face learning approach has proved to be more popular with learners, more convenient for trainers, and more cost-effective for program managers, while matching the effectiveness of onsite classroom programs.
Learnship currently has more than 1,000 language trainers working with 25,000 learners a year at more than 2,000 corporate clients. The company recently extended its offering to include online, face-to-face intercultural training which is proving to be equally popular with corporate clients.
GlobalEnglish is a worldwide leader in providing digital business English communication training to corporate learners. The company has trained over 3 million business professionals with solutions built on its proprietary language learning platform. It uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human teaching to deliver personalized and adaptive learning paths that provide tangible progress and create habits of success.
The combination of Learnship’s premium online, face-to-face services, with GlobalEnglish’s highly scalable digital learning platform, will offer customers a wide range of digital programs with varying levels of trainer involvement. Enterprise customers will be able to broaden the reach of their programs and optimize their overall training budgets, with solutions tailored to the different language learning needs of their global workforce.
Together, Learnship and GlobalEnglish will also have one of the largest IT and product development teams focused on language learning, putting it in prime position to develop the innovative blended learning solutions of the future.
Learnship founder and CEO, Sushel Bijganath says: “GlobalEnglish is a perfectly complementary business to Learnship. Its geographic strengths in Asia, Europe, North and South America, complement our traditional strengths in the European market, and its product expertise in online and mobile software complements our online trainer-led approach. I’m excited to see the future products and solutions that our combined teams of technical and pedagogical experts will pull together as we move forward.”
Learnship is majority owned by THI Investments, a German-based single family office with assets under management in excess of $1.5 billion. Dr. Christoph Becker, Managing Director at THI Investments, said: “Investing in GlobalEnglish is an excellent next step in our digital learning growth strategy and an excellent complimentary strategic fit with Learnship.”
“By combining forces with Learnship we are excited to expand our range of learning experiences into 14 languages, small group classes, and virtual coaching, helping our customers develop and practice the skills that add value in their work,” said Karine Allouche Salanon, GlobalEnglish CEO. “No other company is better positioned to support global organizations in preparing their teams to operate globally and identify measurable impact on business outcomes.”
Over the past ten years, Learnship has also digitally transformed the entire learning management process for HR and learning and development (L&D) managers, including global deployments, learner assessments, onboarding, process automation, quality assurance, and real-time reporting.
Bijganath added: “Our goal has always been to create the ultimate language learning experience for learners, trainers and program managers. We’ve done this by combining human-centered learning design with transformational technology and progressive pedagogy. GlobalEnglish was built on a similar philosophy, and with our combined resources we’ll be able to increase both our speed of innovation and our scale of deployment.”
About Learnship
Learnship is a privately-held company, based in Cologne, Germany with offices in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Paris (France), Basel (Switzerland) and Chicago (USA). The company provides online, face-to-face training in 14 languages for employees at international organizations in more than 75 countries.
About GlobalEnglish
GlobalEnglish is a privately-held company based in San Mateo, CA, with offices in Mexico City, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, and Chennai (India). GlobalEnglish is a Business English learning platform based in Silicon Valley whose mission is to promote and share the cultural and economic benefits of globalization. It serves more than 200 of the Fortune 2000 companies, including Hilton, Deloitte, Whirlpool, and Deutsche Post DHL.
