Noodle acquires Meteor Learning
Meteor will support Noodle's expanding strategy consulting practice
Public Data
Company: Noodle & Meteor Learning
Press Release: PR Newswire
Market (geography): US
Market (industry verticals): Online Program Management/Experience (OPM/OPX)
Customer demographic: Universities
Leadership Team: John Katzman, Keri Hoyt, Lee Bradshaw, William Rieders, Donna Ritchie (Org Chart)
Investors: No disclosure of net new funding for this acquisition, but Noodle is previously backed by Blackrock, ValueAct Spring Fund, Owl Ventures, Lumina Foundation
Public business data:
Noodle now supports 65 US and UK universities
Noodle will incorporate Meteor’s competency in skills-based training into their university-to-employer consulting services
Meteor is Noodle’s 4th acquisition in the past 3 years - following the acquisitions of Hot Chalk, CCA, and Hubble Studios
ETCH Assessment
Bull Case:
Over the past 5 years, Noodle has arguably been one of the main drivers of the shifting dynamics in the Online Program Management (OPM) sector. The team has pushed the market towards fee-for-service work and lowered the cost of working with a third-party service provider for many universities.
However, with the OPM market in the crosshairs of the US Education Department, Noodle is wisely looking to diversify. Earlier this year, the company announced the acquisition of Hubble Studios in South Africa to help diversify internationally (as well as add to internal capabilities). Their acquisition of Meteor Learning helps the team expand their product portfolio outside of traditional OPM services.
Meteor provides Noodle with a ready-made strategy consulting offering and a set of senior client relationships. Growing this strategy consulting practice should provide Noodle with insight into the types of services universities plan to outsource/insource over the coming years. In turn, the non-consulting arm of Noodle can staff up and/or build technology to support these services.
Bear case:
It has been a tough couple of years for the OPM market after the pandemic’s highs. The two public flag-carriers for the market, 2U and Coursera, are down 70%+ market cap (as of 8/28/23) from Coursera’s IPO on April 1, 2021. We’ve also seen competitors like Zovio exit the market entirely.
These movements are caused by both the increased regulatory scrutiny from the Education Department (same link as above) and university leaders investing in more in-house capabilities. Noodle has actually made a business out of helping internal teams at universities build capacity, but does not yet have the sticky SAAS product or long-term contracts to grant immunity from the broader market downturn.
Noodle’s move into strategy services, through their acquisition of Meteor Learning, is a compelling but unproven plan to help the company diversify away from traditional OPM services.
In the company’s words:
Updated on 9/2/23: “Noodle’s acquisition of Meteor brings strong relationships with leading universities and Meteor’s excellent team. Noodle and Meteor share the perspective that online is not a strategy in and of itself and that successful institutions must incorporate rigorous strategies to drive sustainable, winning results.
The acquisition of Meteor adds strategic capabilities that will support leading institutions to develop and implement strategies for growth. We expect that Bill Rieders’ and Donna Ritchie’s leadership of our consulting services, which have been heretofore been included in our respective relationships with schools, will help grow it exponentially.
Finally, we were never a conventional OPM, but have completed a shift from next-generation OPM to tech-enabled service and strategy firm. Even as conventional OPMs are trying to replicate Noodle’s prior model, the new one is that much more flexible, transparent, and efficient.”
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