Acorn

What Acorn does

Acorn is a Sydney-headquartered software company that sells a capability-led Performance and Learning Management System (PLMS) used by HR, L&D, and talent management teams to align workforce skills with business outcomes. The platform is built around a proprietary skills framework that maps over 1,600 capabilities and 4,800 proficiency levels to job roles and learning content, and it combines traditional LMS functions (course delivery, live learning, content management, learner portals) with competency-based assessment, gap analysis, succession planning, and workflow automation through five integrated modules: Internal Learning, External Learning, Capabilities, Momentum, and Content. Revenue is generated primarily through usage-based SaaS subscriptions sold via direct enterprise field sales with multi-year contracts, augmented by a Strategic Account Management premium support tier and Content Services, with nonprofit discounts available. The June 2026 acquisition of B Online Learning brought in-house custom eLearning design, Articulate Certified Training Partner status for ANZ, and the Birch Learning Platform, accelerating Acorn's expansion beyond its Australian base into North American enterprise, government, education, and nonprofit/association segments. The company supports more than 1,000,000 learners globally and holds SOC 2 Type I, WCAG 2.2 AA, and FedRAMP Low SaaS certifications, supporting its positioning with regulated and government buyers.

Name

Acorn

Legal name

Acorn

Website

https://acorn.works

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Acorn sells a capability-led Performance and Learning Management System (PLMS) mapping 1,600+ skills to roles and learning content, serving HR and L&D teams across government, education, enterprise, and nonprofit sectors globally via usage-based SaaS subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Learning Management System

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Portfolio, Performance & Rubric-Based Assessment Platforms (EDAFADAL)

Keywords

• Learning management system
• Performance management software
• Capability assessment platform
• Workforce readiness software
• Skills gap analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Canberra

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Platform Subscription: Usage-based SaaS subscription model for the PLMS platform, with pricing that scales based on usage rather than per-seat, making it cost-effective for organizations with variable learner populations
2. Strategic Account Management: Proactive support upgrade service providing dedicated account management with monthly strategy meetings and quarterly business reviews
3. Content Services: Custom eLearning content development and integration with curated content libraries (Go1, OpenSesame) for organizations needing supplemental training content

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Acorn provides a capability-led Performance and Learning Management System (PLMS) that combines competency-driven assessments, learning management, and performance workflows in a single unified platform. The system maps over 1,600 capabilities and 4,800 proficiency levels to roles and learning content, enabling skills gap analysis, personalized development pathways, and evidence-based workforce readiness measurement for HR and L&D leaders. It serves internal employee training, external learner audiences, and performance processes including PIPs, cyclical reviews, and succession planning.

Product overview

Acorn is a capability-led Performance Learning Management System (PLMS) that combines multiple integrated modules into a unified platform. The core portfolio includes Internal Learning (for employee training with white-labelled portals and live learning), External Learning (for external learner management with eCommerce and automated tax), Capabilities (competency-driven assessments with 1,600+ capabilities and 4,800 proficiency levels), Momentum (workflow automation for approvals and performance processes), and Content (content management with make, buy, use capabilities). The AI Tool Suite provides document-to-SCORM conversion and AI SCORM Builder. The free Capability Assistant AI builds custom frameworks in minutes. Sprout provides customer enablement. Strategic Account Management offers premium support with quarterly business reviews. The platform serves 1,000,000+ learners across internal and external audiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sprout: Customer enablement program helping customers grow

Products and services

• Internal Learning Internal employee learning management module that lets organizations share learnings, test understanding, and run live and cohort-based training via white-labelled learner portals, workflows, and unified user/admin interfaces. Designed for HR and L&D teams running employee training programs.
• External Learning External learner management module enabling organizations to share or sell training content to external audiences through external catalogues, multiple learner portals, self-registration, monthly passes, payments, automated Avalara tax management, and cross-tenancy content sharing. Built for organizations running customer, partner, or member education programs.
• Capabilities Competency-driven performance assessment module providing gap analysis, custom frameworks, capability assessments, third-party framework integration, performance history tracking, and succession planning. Maps over 1,600 capabilities and 4,800 proficiency levels to roles and learning content, used by HR/L&D leaders to align workforce development with business needs.
• Momentum Workflow automation module that lets organizations create and automate approval, nomination, and review processes across external training programs, cyclical performance plans, onboarding, mentoring, integrated course workflows, and performance improvement plans (PIPs). Targeted at HR teams replacing manual form-based processes.
• Content Content management module enabling organizations to make, buy, use, and organize learning content with the ability to link content directly to capabilities and roles within the platform. Used by L&D teams to manage their training content libraries.
• AI Tool Suite AI-powered add-on suite including the document-to-SCORM AI pipeline that converts existing documents into SCORM, xAPI, and HTML5 eLearning content, the AI SCORM Builder for AI-authored course generation, and AI search and navigation across the platform. Targeted at L&D teams seeking to accelerate content authoring.
• Strategic Account Management (SAM) Premium support service providing dedicated Strategic Account Managers with monthly strategy meetings, quarterly business reviews, adoption tracking, and new feature discussions for strategic customers. Designed for enterprise customers seeking proactive partnership and adoption optimization.
• Interactions (Beta) New learner engagement feature launched in beta that adds interactive capabilities within Acorn courses, including UX and admin refinements, new engagement capabilities, course management improvements, live learning enhancements, and learner engagement emails.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of leaders say employees must quit to advance (2025 Corporate Performance & Learning Report finding)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• B Online LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 June 2026Acorn acquired B Online Learning, Australia and New Zealand's leading eLearning design and development provider. The acquisition brings B Online Learning's custom eLearning content, exclusive Articulate Certified Training Partner status since 2012, and its Birch Learning Platform into Acorn's ecosystem. B Online Learning has spent two decades building custom eLearning for government, regulated industry, and enterprise organizations across health, energy, and agriculture sectors, and has trained more than 10,000 learning designers and L&D administrators.
• ArticulatecoreTechnology or IntegrationAcorn acquired B Online Learning which holds exclusive Articulate Certified Training Partner status for Australia and New Zealand since 2012. This brings Articulate training and eLearning authoring capabilities into Acorn's platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Docebo: AI-powered enterprise LMS platform serving mid-market and enterprise customers globally. Directly comparable as a core LMS competitor — Acorn's marquee customer Garver explicitly left Docebo after 5 years for Acorn, confirming head-to-head competition in the enterprise LMS category.
• Degreed: Learning experience and skills platform focused on capability development and workforce readiness. Closely comparable on the skills-graph, capability-mapping, and learning-to-performance thesis that defines Acorn's PLMS positioning, though Degreed emphasizes LxP/experience aggregation.
• 360Learning: Collaborative LMS platform with AI-powered authoring and skills-mapping features for enterprise L&D teams. Comparable as a direct mid-market LMS competitor, particularly on AI-augmented content creation and skills-aligned learning pathways.
• TalentLMS: Cloud LMS serving SMB and mid-market customers with course authoring and compliance training features. Comparable as a directly competing LMS, though Acorn's enterprise and capability-led positioning is differentiated from TalentLMS's SMB focus.
• Absorb LMS: Cloud-based LMS serving enterprise and compliance-driven training use cases. Comparable as a directly competing LMS in the same mid-market/enterprise segment, with overlapping content management and compliance training capabilities.
• LearnDash: WordPress-based LMS plugin popular with associations, nonprofits, and extended enterprise training programs. Comparable as a directly competing LMS, particularly in the association/nonprofit segment where Acorn's multi-portal architecture and external learning modules overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Cornerstone OnDemand: Large enterprise talent and learning management suite with skills graph, learning, and performance capabilities. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating across learning, performance, and recruiting — Acorn's capability-led PLMS positioning overlaps with Cornerstone's skills ontology and learning modules.
• Skillsoft: Enterprise corporate learning company combining a content library with a learning platform and skills benchmarking. Comparable as a broader incumbent in skills-based learning, with overlapping coverage of capability assessment, content, and compliance training.
• Workday Learning: Learning module embedded within Workday's enterprise HCM suite, increasingly tied to Workday Skills Cloud. Comparable as a broad incumbent where Workday's native learning and skills ontology competes with Acorn's capability-led PLMS for enterprise HR tech budgets.
• SAP SuccessFactors Learning: Enterprise LMS module within SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite, with skills inference and performance integration. Comparable as a broad incumbent in enterprise learning, competing for the same global enterprise HR/L&D RFPs that Acorn targets with government and regulated-industry customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/acornplms

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Acorn