A Cloud Guru Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

A Cloud Guru was acquired by Pluralsight for $2B in June 2021, a 70.2x multiple on $29M of revenue.

A Cloud Guru acquisition price

$2B

Acquired by Pluralsight · Jun 2021

A Cloud Guru revenue at acquisition

$29M

Last twelve months · Jun 2021

A Cloud Guru revenue multiple at acquisition

70.2x

EV/Revenue · Jun 2021

Cumulative funding A Cloud Guru raised

$40M

across 2 funding rounds

A Cloud Guru Overview

About A Cloud Guru

A Cloud Guru is an Austin-headquartered online training platform specializing in cloud certifications for Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. It offers interactive courses, hands-on labs, and exam simulators used by over two million professionals worldwide. Acquired by Pluralsight in 2020, the platform delivers content through a subscription model with video lessons from certified instructors. A Cloud Guru partners with cloud providers for official exam prep materials and operates learning paths tailored to roles like solutions architect and data engineer.


Founded

2015

HQ

United StatesUnited States

Status

Acquired

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Subscription

Revenue

$29M (Jun 2021)

Valuation

$2B (acquired Jun 2021)

A Cloud Guru Acquisition

A Cloud Guru was acquired by Pluralsight for $2B on 2 June 2021.

The acquisition price implies a 70.2x revenue multiple on $29M of revenue.

Before the acquisition A Cloud Guru had raised $40M across 2 funding rounds.

A Cloud Guru acquisition details
AcquirerDateTypePriceEV/Revenue
2 Jun 2021Strategic M&A$2B70.2x

A Cloud Guru Funding History

A Cloud Guru has raised a total of $40M across 2 funding rounds.

A Cloud Guru's first fundraising round was a $7M Series A in July 2017. The most recent completed round was a $33M Series B in April 2019.

A Cloud Guru funding rounds

A Cloud Guru funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Apr 2019Series BSummit Partners (lead); Elephant; Airtree Ventures$33MA Cloud Guru is an online learning platform specializing in cloud computing training, offering courses and labs for certifications from AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, founded in 2015 by brothers Sam and Ryan Kroonenburg along with Ant Stanley in Melbourne, Australia, later based in Austin, TX. The company provides hands-on training for enterprises and professionals to build cloud skills, serving over 2.5 million users across 4,500 organizations by later years. On April 29, 2019, A Cloud Guru raised $33 million in a growth equity round led by Summit Partners, with participation from Airtree Ventures and existing investor Elephant. The funding was intended to accelerate global hiring, expand the content library with specialized courses and labs by expert instructors, and enhance enterprise features to drive cloud adoption. During Summit Partners' investment period starting in 2019, A Cloud Guru achieved 6x revenue growth and scaled employees from under 100 to over 450. Later that year, Summit led a follow-on investment to fund the acquisition of Linux Academy, creating the largest cloud training library. The company integrated Linux Academy and launched a new platform in 2020, with support from Summit on recruiting executives, product roadmap, and B2B growth. In June 2021, Pluralsight acquired A Cloud Guru in a deal valuing the combined entity at over $2 billion as part of Vista Equity Partners' rollup strategy, following Vista's acquisition of Pluralsight. Summit Partners facilitated the introduction to Pluralsight and supported the merger negotiations, becoming a shareholder in Pluralsight.
Jul 2017Series AElephant (lead)$7MA Cloud Guru is a cloud computing training platform co-founded by Australian brothers Ryan and Sam Kroonenburg. The company launched in late 2015 and delivers online training courses focused on cloud technologies including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Salesforce. By July 2017, A Cloud Guru had trained more than 250,000 students across 160 countries and had built significant traction through social media, particularly LinkedIn where co-founder Ryan Kroonenburg had become a prominent figure in cloud training education. The company closed a $7 million Series A funding round from Boston-based Elephant Venture Capital in July 2017. The funding was designated for expanding A Cloud Guru's content library to encompass all major cloud vendors beyond its initial AWS focus and supporting US market expansion. By May 2018, the company had launched ACG for Business, an enterprise-focused learning management platform serving customers including Dow Jones, Capital One, and Qualcomm.

Who has invested in A Cloud Guru?

3 investors have backed A Cloud Guru across its funding rounds, including Elephant, Airtree Ventures and Summit Partners.

Lead investors include Summit Partners and Elephant.


A Cloud Guru Investors

Investors in A Cloud Guru by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
ElephantUnited StatesBoston, MA2LeadJul 2017

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Acquisitions by A Cloud Guru

A Cloud Guru has acquired 1 company to date.

Last acquisition by A Cloud Guru was on December 16th 2019. A Cloud Guru acquired Linux Academy for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by A Cloud Guru

Linux Academy
Description
Linux Academy is an Austin-based online training provider focused on Linux, cloud computing, DevOps, and cybersecurity certifications. Courses cover AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and Linux distributions with interactive quizzes, study groups, and community forums. Central to the platform are hands-on labs simulating real environments for practicing commands, configurations, and deployments without local setup risks. Instructors offer direct support for content clarification and career guidance. Acquired by A Cloud Guru in 2020 and later Pluralsight, Linux Academy serves IT professionals pursuing RHCE, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, and similar credentials.
HQ CountryUnited States
HQ City
Dallas, TX
Deal Date16 Dec 2019
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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A Cloud Guru Competitors

A Cloud Guru competitors include listed companies like Alef Education, Youdao and COL Global, and private ones like Multiverse, UpGrad and Zhangmen.

Public and private companies comparable to A Cloud Guru
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
MultiverseUnited KingdomLondonPrivate$13M-$2.1B-
Alef EducationUAEUAEPublicly listed$210M$150M$1.9B7.8x
UpGradIndiaMumbaiPrivate$257M-$2.3B8.8x
YoudaoChinaChinaPublicly listed$881M$29M$1.7B2.0x
ZhangmenChinaShanghaiPrivate--$1.6B-
COL GlobalChinaChinaPublicly listed$247M($78M)$2.6B8.9x
Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Perdoceo Education$846M$239M1.7x1.7x6.0x5.4x
Alef Education$210M$150M8.2x7.8x11.5x11.1x
Strategic Education$1.3B$226M1.4x1.4x7.8x6.2x
Offcn Education Technology$334M$72M5.9x5.7x27.4x23.5x
Youdao$881M$29M2.1x2.0x63.1x33.8x
Advtech$574M$155M3.0x2.9x11.3x10.2x
National Company for Learning & Education$175M$66M9.8x8.5x26.2x23.3x
John Wiley & Sons$1.7B$405M2.2x2.2x9.3x8.3x

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Common questions about A Cloud Guru

When was A Cloud Guru founded?A Cloud Guru was founded in 2015.
Where is A Cloud Guru headquartered?A Cloud Guru is headquartered in United States.
Is A Cloud Guru publicly listed?No, A Cloud Guru was acquired by Pluralsight in June 2021.
Who acquired A Cloud Guru?A Cloud Guru was acquired by Pluralsight in June 2021.
How much was A Cloud Guru acquired for?A Cloud Guru was acquired for $2B in June 2021, a 70.2x revenue multiple.
How much funding has A Cloud Guru raised?A Cloud Guru has raised $40M across 2 funding rounds.
What was A Cloud Guru's last funding round?A Cloud Guru's last funding round was a $33M Series B in April 2019, led by Summit Partners.
Who are A Cloud Guru's investors?A Cloud Guru's investors include Elephant, Summit Partners and Airtree Ventures.
Which companies are comparable to A Cloud Guru?Companies comparable to A Cloud Guru include Multiverse, Alef Education, UpGrad, Youdao, Zhangmen and COL Global.
How many companies has A Cloud Guru acquired?A Cloud Guru has acquired 1 company, including Linux Academy.

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