Local startup Blue Ocean Brain was acquired last month by Texas-based e-learning firm HSI.
Blue Ocean Brain, co-founded in 2010 by Laura Howard, Gemma Brooks and Claire Herring, is an e-learning platform that combines collaborative consultation, award-winning content and flexible integration options to help companies support and enhance its employees.
The startup announced its exit in late November after experiencing accelerate growth over the last 18 months, Herring said. Blue Ocean Brain is currently operating in 55 countries. Herring said the partnership with HSI will give them access to more than 5,000 additional clients.
"We’ve experienced a tremendous amount of growth in the last year ... Through the pandemic we’ve seen what we feel is a permanent change in how learning gets done," she said. "A big piece is daily learning that focuses on soft skills including a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Organizations have wanted to take a long-range view of how to build work cultures of inclusion, and so they use us as part of that solution."
Though Blue Ocean Brain received inquires about selling over the last two years, Herring said they only decided in June to become more intentional about the possibility of an acquisition. The startup will operate as a part of HSI's portfolio under its original name.
"We selected HSI ... because they are also in the e-learning space but did not occupy the same space we do, so it felt like a good strategic fit for us," she said. "We felt (HSI) would give our people the opportunity to grow, as well."
This is HSI's third acquisition focused on employee professional development and training. It provides integrated e-learning content, training solutions and cloud-based software designed to enable companies to improve safety, operations and employee development.
Herring said being a successful female-led startup in Richmond has made Blue Ocean Brain's recent exit all the sweeter.
"To have a female-founded tech company that was homegrown and supported by a number of other local businesses have a really successful exit, is great proof that you can build tech companies in Richmond," she said. "I’d like to see more entrepreneurs do that here."