Video platform Zaption said today it has been sold to San Francisco-based Workday, which sells cloud-based finance and human relations software. As a result, Zaption will also shut down its platform as of September 30. Terms of the deal were not shared. In a blog post, the company said it was joining Workday to "have an even greater impact on how the world learns."
Exactly how that will happen is unclear for now. Zaption plans to rebuild its technology, which lets users add annotations to video. Zaption said it will base its new work on
Workday Learning, a learning management system for the corporate world that the company previewed in 2015 but is still under development.
Since Zaption is closing its existing site, the company is encouraging users to look at alternatives. For instance, Zaption recommends K12 users consider using Nearpod or EdPuzzle."Both allow you to quickly create high-quality interactive content," noted Zaption's FAQ. The company nudged higher ed users to look at HapYak or H5P, an open-source interactive media platform.
Users who created Zaption video lessons will be able to download and save them (provided there are no copyright issues). Paying subscribers will receive a prorated refund for any remaining time.
Zaption, started in 2013, had raised $1.5 million in investment funding from NewSchools Venture Fund, Redcrest Enterprises, Telegraph Hill Capital and others in 2015. It had also secured a $1 million Small Business in Innovation grant and won a Digital Innovation in Learning Award in 2014. Last year, the company said it had 200,000 users including 60,000 registered educators.
