The Boston-based training platform CareAcademy has made its first acquisition.
On Thursday, the company announced it has acquired NextStep, a digital health care training and job placement company for certified nursing assistants (CNAs).
“This acquisition is so powerful because it takes the best of both worlds, the things that we’ve been refining over the last couple of years, and marries them together in a really potent way,” CareAcademy Founder and CEO Helen Adeosun told Home Health Care News. “We imagine that this acquisition is part of our design in building out the ultimate career path on behalf of long-term care.”
As part of the deal, CareAcademy will specifically acquire NextStep’s video-based content and learning management technology to expand its training solution footprint.
CareAcademy’s platform provides home care agencies with professional development training and upskilling for direct care workers. This past summer, it secured a Goldman Sachs-led $20 million investment of its own.
On its end, NextStep is a learning and recruiting platform that certifies and places nursing assistants in three states: Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
Adeosun said CareAcademy and NextStep’s missions have been aligned for years, which made the former’s first acquisition target a simple one.
“These are companies that have always been aligned,” Adeosun said. “Both CareAcademy and NextStep have always had a passion, a mission and a vision for attracting caregivers into the workforce and making caregiving a pathway to health care.”
Looking ahead, Adeosun believes this partnership will allow CareAcademy to further evolve with the post-acute care industry.
“We are known, at least initially, as a home care company,” Adeosun said. “We’re thrilled about that and we’re very proud of that. We’re also seeing that the landscape is shifting pretty rapidly. Today, under one roof, you’ll encounter a company that works across a spectrum of post-acuity – whether that’s home care, assisted living or hospice at home. And so this aligns with our vision of CareAcademy being a one-stop shop in being able to fulfill that career-ladder need.”
CareAcademy is already one of the preeminent provider partners in the home care and home health sectors.
Given its rapid growth, Its first acquisition is unlikely to be its last one.
“We’re delighted to strike this agreement with CareAcademy and its extraordinary leadership team,” NextStep CEO and co-founder Chris Hedrick said in a statement. “The NextStep learning platform and nursing assistant course content will help CareAcademy advance our crucial shared mission — expanding opportunity for the next generation of frontline healthcare professionals.”
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