Bought it like it’s hot! Hotmart acquires edtech Teachable

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Contxto – You know what businesses are probably seeing a rise in sales as a result of the coronavirus pandemic? Besides hand sanitizer companies, smarty-pants. E-learning sites. Long-distance learning is getting a leg up in the market as everyone stays at home but wish to make the most of their time and learn.

In that spirit, Brazilian digital business platform, Hotmart, made a purchase in the edtech market. Yesterday (16), it was reported that it acquired e-learning platform, Teachable, for around US$250 million.

Despite this acquisition, Teachable will keep its branding and overall strategy. But now, it may use Hotmart’s larger network to expand abroad. Moreover, the NY-based edtech’s CEO will keep his position at the head of Teachable.

Edtech Hotmart

Don’t let the name fool you. Brazilian Hotmart isn’t an e-commerce platform per se. But it does offer a space where individuals and businesses can show off their knowledge and/or products to reach more audiences and raise their profits that way.

Correspondingly, parties that use Hotmart’s platform can position their products through available marketing tools like HubSpot and MailChimp. The startup dubs these users as “Producers.”

Other users can sign up as Affiliates. As such, they provide product reviews and, if they get a hit for their promotions, they earn a commission. Kind of like being an influencer. But besides using social media and your personal website, you also link back your promotions to Hotmart’s platform.

Mateus Bicalho and João Pedro Resende founded Hotmart in 2011. At the moment it has offices in Colombia, Mexico, Spain, the Netherlands, and now, the United States, thanks to Teachable.

School is cool

Thanks to the acquisition, Belo Horizonte’s Hotmart now has control of a SaaS (software as a service) platform, where teachers—in exchange for a subscription fee—can host and manage their own digital classrooms.

The startup raised multiple investment rounds for over US$12 million in funding prior to being purchased. It hadn’t reached profitability, but according to Teachable’s CEO, Ankur Nagpal, it was experiencing losses for under US$2 million.

So why was a Brazilian startup interested in a language e-learning platform from the United States?

Because Hotmart wants to expand into the English-speaking e-learning market. Prior to this purchase, the nine-year old startup had been covering Portuguese and Spanish markets on its platform.

And no doubt a big piece of the e-learning pie are English speakers and the acquisition of Teachable is the means to that goal.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Brazil!

-ML