Latest news with #Pluralsight
AU Financial Review
5 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Billionaire Kroonenburg lands big valuation for AI ad agency Cuttable
The founder of online training-start up A Cloud Guru, sold to American education giant Pluralsight for $2 billion, is building a new artificial intelligence advertising venture, which has been valued at $44.5 million after raising money less than a month since its launch. Sam Kroonenburg founded A Cloud Guru with his brother Ryan in 2015, ultimately selling out in 2021. His new venture, Cuttable, uses AI to generate tailored social media advertising campaigns for small brands.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alphyn Capital Management Sold Its Stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (OCSL)
Alphyn Capital Management, an investment management firm, released its second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Master Account of the fund returned 12.4% net in the second quarter compared to 10.9% for the S&P 500 Index. As of the second quarter of 2025, the top ten holdings accounted for approximately 65% of the portfolio, and approximately 17% of the portfolio was held in cash. Market conditions remained volatile in Q2 due to ongoing tariff developments and evolving interest rate projections. In addition, please check the fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025. In its second quarter 2025 investor letter, Alphyn Capital Management highlighted stocks such as Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL). Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) is a business development company. The one-month return of Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) was 5.34%, and its shares lost 22.32% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 11, 2025, Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) stock closed at $14.41 per share with a market capitalization of $1.269 billion. Alphyn Capital Management stated the following regarding Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter: "I sold Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) after management had to admit three new non-accruals, including a 50% write-down on investment in Pluralsight alongside smaller hits at AT Holdings and Dialyze. Those impairments reduced the net asset value and demonstrated that an almost 80% first-lien book can still experience credit pressure, leaving earnings flat and my expected risk-adjusted return below the hurdle I set for core holdings. Management then waived $3.2 million of incentive fees, boosting net investment income by a penny per share to maintain the dividend intact. I appreciate that shareholder-minded step, but it also points to a thinner earnings cushion if base rates drift lower." A close-up shot of a banker, looking confidently at his/her laptop, with stacks of papers and a toy credit card in the background. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 11 hedge fund portfolios held Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) at the end of the first quarter, which was 15 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of OCSL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. In another article, we covered Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:OCSL) and shared Alphyn Capital Management's views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pluralsight moving headquarters to Texas, laying off 17% of workforce
Utah-borne online education company Pluralsight on Thursday announced it is laying off 17% of its global workforce and moving its corporate headquarters from Utah to Westlake, Texas. 'Over the past year, we have been transforming our business to position the company for sustained growth and to enhance the value we provide for our customers,' Pluralsight CEO Erin Gajdalo said in a statement. 'As we focus on the growth and sustainability of our business, we determined that a new and rightsized headquarters is in the best interest of Pluralsight.' The new headquarters in Texas will add another location to the company's lineup that already includes Dublin, India, Austin, Texas and, of course, Draper. Despite moving headquarters, Gajdalo said the company won't soon forget its Utah roots. 'To our team members, partners, and customers in the Salt Lake area and Utah more broadly, we remain fully committed to serving you with excellence, and we expect our total employee population in the state to remain consistent,' Gajdalo said. 'Utah is where Pluralsight was founded more than 20 years ago and we are grateful to the state for the important role it has played in Pluralsight's history.' The latest move comes four months after Pluralsight reached a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit, agreeing to split $20 million among tens of thousands of investors who purchased stock in 2018 and 2019. The suit was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in August 2019 and transferred to the District of Utah two months later. A handful of public employee retirement funds alleged that the company and some executives misled investors about the 'size and productivity of Pluralsight's sales force,' artificially inflating the stock price before and during a secondary public offering, before 'disappoint(ing) financial results' and the resignation of an executive caused shares to plummet in value by almost 40%, court documents say.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pluralsight Named a Leader in Evaluation of Technology Skills Development Platforms By Top Analyst Research Firm
DRAPER, Utah, May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pluralsight, the technology workforce development company, today announced it has been recognized as a leader in "The Forrester Wave™: Technology Skills Development Platforms, Q2 2025." The independent analyst report evaluated eight of the most significant providers in the technology skills development space across strategy, capabilities, and customer feedback. Pluralsight emerged as a "Leader," which is the highest category for vendors. Pluralsight also received the highest strategy score among all vendors evaluated and the highest score possible in the vision, innovation, partner ecosystem, and adoption criteria. "In a world where AI is changing every aspect of operations, technology skills are an essential element to future-proofing careers and businesses," said Erin Gajdalo, CEO of Pluralsight. "We believe being named a leader by Forrester is not only a recognition that we're delivering an excellent upskilling experience, it's a signal to organizations that investing in Pluralsight means investing in their workforce's agility and innovation." Pluralsight's offering achieved the top scores possible (5 out of 5) in eleven criteria, including: Broad tech-domain coverage Hands-on learning Skill benchmarking prior to learning Skill acquisition analytics Integration with HR tech ecosystem Accessibility Microlearning and in-content search Customers interviewed for the report appreciated Pluralsight's broad domain coverage, the ability to conduct pre- and post-learning skill benchmarking, and depth of analytics. According to the Forrester report, "Customers seeking a high-quality, curated learning platform with robust adoption and engagement strategies will benefit from Pluralsight." To learn more about how Pluralsight helps enterprises close critical technology skill gaps, visit About Pluralsight Pluralsight provides the only learning platform dedicated to accelerating the technology skills and capabilities of today's tech workforce. Thousands of companies, government organizations and individuals around the world rely on Pluralsight Skills to support critical technology skill development in areas that are crucial to innovation including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, software development, and machine learning. Pluralsight Skills provides highly curated content developed by vetted technology experts, industry leading skill assessments, and hands on, immersive learning experiences designed to help individuals skill-up faster. The company is headquartered in Draper, Utah with worldwide offices in India, Ireland, and Australia. For more information, visit Media Contact: Ryan SinsSenior Communications Manager press@ Note: Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester's objectivity here. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Pluralsight
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Generative AI adoption stymied by technology, talent woes
This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. Talent gaps and technology hurdles are hindering strategic adoption of generative AI capabilities, according to a Pluralsight report published Thursday. The IT workforce training company surveyed 600 technology decision-makers. While two-thirds of respondents said their organization had short-term AI plans in place, only one-third have a long-term adoption strategy. Over half of respondents pointed to a lack of fully mature data systems to handle AI's technical and operational demands. 'There is a critical gap between organizational ambition and actual readiness when it comes to AI adoption,' Chris McClellen, chief product and technology officer at Pluralsight, said in an announcement Thursday. 'While many companies recognize the importance of AI, the lack of long-term strategies, mature systems, and comprehensive workforce upskilling to support the demands of AI leaves them unable to capitalize on its potential.' Generative AI tested the mettle of enterprise data systems and technology skills, exposing weaknesses on both counts across industries. CIOs responded by doubling down on AI talent recruitment and upskilling initiatives, as data hardware and infrastructure spending spiked. Efforts to lay the groundwork for AI adoption have yielded mixed results so far, according to Pluralsight. Two-thirds of respondents said more than half of their workforce had well-developed AI skills, yet three-quarters reported pausing or delaying AI projects for lack of sufficient talent. Two years after ChatGPT's arrival, many enterprises anxiously awaited signs of a return on generative AI investments. More than one-third of companies succeeded in scaling generative AI use cases as of last year, according to an Accenture survey of 3,450 C-suite leaders published Thursday. But a mere 13% said the technology had created significant value. While many organizations have yet to overcome data readiness, process redesign and C-suite sponsorship challenges, the banking and insurance industries have had success scaling domain-specific AI applications with measurable ROI, the professional services firm found. Successful deployment of AI assistants, chatbots and a new generation of agentic tools takes targeted and sustained investment in workforce and technology modernization. Manulife Financial rolled out a proprietary generative AI assistant called ChatMFC across its global workforce after a decade of active investment in AI capabilities, the insurer said in a Thursday announcement. The company has poured billions into building out its digital capabilities through investments in a cloud-based data and AI platform, an AI skills building program and a team of 200 data scientists and machine learning engineers. 'We've doubled our AI-driven impact by diversifying and expanding solutions, strengthening data and AI platforms and practicing responsible AI governance,' Manulife Global Chief Analytics Officer Jodie Wallis said in the announcement. The company said it expects a three-fold return over five years on its AI investments. Sparking sustained spend on the technology remains a hurdle for many companies. More than half of respondents to Pluralsight's survey said their organization has directed less than $500,000 into AI initiatives. A clear line-of-sight to ROI is clouded by the scope and magnitude of the investments required, according to Nagendra Bandaru, managing partner and global head of Wipro Enterprise Futuring. IT executives are facing a three-headed beast on the path to adoption as they grapple with legacy system complexity, broken processes and masses of unclean data, Bandaru told CIO Dive. 'You have to solve for all three for AI to work seamlessly and give you a return on your investment,' he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
