Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2017 - 66

CLOSING
D E A L S

"LEARN-THINK-APPLY-SHARE"

GNOWBE RAISES $1.7 MILLION FOR LEARNING APPLICATION PLATFORM
BY TARYN OESCH

At this point, it's well established that
modalities like microlearning and social
learning are here to stay. Research
shows that they're effective in helping
employees not only learn but retain
information and skills. Another trend
that's become a reality is mobile learning;
with the number of global smartphone
users projected to grow to 6.1 billion by
2020, mobile devices are a great way to
reach learners anytime, anywhere.

and engagement rates eight to ten
times higher than those for traditional
e-learning products. By engaging
employees during "dead" time (waiting
for transportation, between meetings,
while
commuting,
etc.),
mobile
learning can increase productivity
and communication. Kang says it
also allows organizations to "scale
training to thousands at [a] fraction of
in-person costs."

Founded in 2015 by entrepreneur SoYoung Kang, Gnowbe is a company
that's combining those trends with
a microlearning app that supports
bite-sized, peer-to-peer learning and
practice as well as game elements like
rewards and leaderboards. In May, the
company announced $1.7 million in
seed funding from Coent Ventures, 500
Startups, POEMS Ventures, Koh Boon
Hwee (chairman of Credence Partners)
and Holly Liu (founder of mobile gaming
company Kabam).

Gnowbe stands for "grow knowledge
into being" and is based on the belief that
only through application can learning
truly happen. "One can read 20 books on
leadership and still be a terrible leader,"
Kang says. "A good leader practices the
principles and applies [them]." Gnowbe
calls this process "Learn-Think-ApplyShare," based on Jack Mezirow's theory
of transformative learning.

Kang reports in an email that the
money will be used to hire sales and
marketing employees and developers
to improve Gnowbe's product and data
analytics. In fact, the company is betatesting a product called "Gnowbefy for
Curators" in the Apple store. The goal of
this mobile content creation tool is to
enable anyone ("literally even a sevenyear-old") to create experiential learning
programs on a mobile device.
THE BENEFITS OF MOBILE
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Kang says clients have reported over
90 percent of learners think Gnowbe
is "fun," "effective" and "convenient,"

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1. Learn through videos,
microlearning, articles,
podcasts and other sources.
2. Think critically by reflecting
and making meaning out of
what was learned.
3. Apply new knowledge
through practice and,
ultimately, behavior change.
4. Share what was learned with
a peer community, further
deepening understanding.
"Imagine your employees thanking you
for an awesome program [instead of ]
dragging their feet because they are
'forced' to sit in a one-day program?
It's possible," Kang says. To ensure

application, the app provides challenges
and actions for learners to do away
from their device, then asks them to
verify that they completed them. For
leadership development, for example,
an action might be for the participants
to upload a selfie of themselves having
a conversation with one of their
employees about his or her motivations.

GNOWBE STANDS FOR
"GROW KNOWLEDGE
INTO BEING" AND
IS BASED ON THE
BELIEF THAT ONLY
THROUGH APPLICATION
CAN LEARNING
TRULY HAPPEN.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In addition to developing the new
Gnowbefy for Curators, Kang says the
company is "growing through strategic
partnerships with corporates and large
training institutions to really take
learning to the next level." They've
already worked with KPMG Digital
Village in six countries to implement
"learn-by-doing" mobile training. Kang
says the companies that "catch the
mobile wave ... will be at the forefront
to create a competitive advantage,"
especially
with
the
increasing
numbers of digital natives entering the
workforce, who want to learn - and use
their phones - constantly.
Taryn Oesch is an editor at Training Industry,
Inc. Email Taryn.

http://www.trainingindustry.com/taxonomy/m/microlearning.aspx http://www.trainingindustry.com/taxonomy/s/social-learning.aspx http://www.trainingindustry.com/taxonomy/s/social-learning.aspx https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2015/6/ericsson-mobility-report-70-percent-of-worlds-population-using-smartphones-by-2020?categoryFilter=press-releases_1270673222_c https://www.gnowbe.com/transformative-learning-how-adults-actually-learn https://www.gnowbe.com/transformative-learning-how-adults-actually-learn

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