A Cloud Guru

Online cloud computing training
Invested in
2019
Status

Acquired by Pluralsight 2021

Location
Austin, TX
Sector
Technology
Sector
Technology

“The Summit team were always there for us. They rolled up their sleeves to help us recruit key executives, fund an acquisition and provide market insights and advice. Summit supported A Cloud Guru every step of the way.”

Sam Kroonenburg
Co-founder and CEO
|
A Cloud Guru
6x

Revenue growth during Summit’s investment

450+

Employees, scaling organization from fewer than 100

2021

Acquired by Pluralsight

6x

Revenue growth during Summit’s investment

450+

Employees, scaling organization from fewer than 100

2021

Acquired by Pluralsight

Brothers Sam and Ryan Kroonenburg founded A Cloud Guru (“ACG”) in 2015 with a mission to teach the world to cloud. At the time, the available cloud training options were both expensive and unable to keep pace with rapidly changing technology. Frustrated, the pair aimed to make cloud learning relevant, accessible, affordable – and even fun. We met Sam and Ryan a few years later, in 2018, and by that time their initial cloud training course had evolved into a state-of-the-art e-learning platform with a rich content library, hands-on labs, interactive quizzes and certifications.

How Summit Partners Helped

  • Led a minority investment in 2019 and a larger follow-on investment later that year to help fund the company’s acquisition of Linux Academy
  • Supported ACG’s integration of Linux Academy and the launch of a new, integrated platform in 2020
  • Led recruiting of several key hires, including a President, CFO and Chief People Officer
  • Collaborated with management to execute on the company's content/product roadmap and help drive new B2B customer acquisition velocity
  • Engaged Summit Partners’ Peak Performance Group to support a complex software implementation
  • Introduced ACG to Pluralsight and assisted management in the successful negotiation of the merger

Over the course of Summit Partners’ investment, ACG enhanced its comprehensive e-learning platform, adding immersive hands-on features and significantly expanding its content library – all of which has helped the company to deliver personalized learning at scale to more than 2.5 million users worldwide. In 2021, Pluralsight acquired A Cloud Guru to accelerate its push to solve the growing cloud skills gap, one of the biggest challenges in IT today. Summit Partners is now a shareholder in Pluralsight and continues to support Pluralsight.

The Portfolio Company Executive quoted herein did not receive compensation for any statements regarding Summit Partners. However, since A Cloud Guru is a former portfolio company of Summit, this individual did receive general compensation in connection with his employment by the company. In addition, this individual is an investor in a Summit fund and may have conflicts arising from his past role with A Cloud Guru due to the company’s relationship with Summit.

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