Inkling is a San Francisco-based mobile-first learning and content management platform built for deskless and frontline workforces. The company delivers digital training, knowledge management, and operational content to employees on mobile devices, with customers including McDonald's, Whole Foods, McGraw Hill, and ServiceNow. Founded in 2009 by Matt MacInnis, Josh Forman, and Robert Cromwell, Inkling started as a digital textbook platform with publisher partnerships (Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Elsevier) before pivoting to enterprise learning around 2016. Inkling raised roughly $95 million across nine rounds from investors including Sequoia Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Tenaya Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Pearson before being acquired by Marlin Equity Partners in February 2018. In May 2024, Marlin sold Inkling to Echo360 (a Centre Lane Partners-backed education SaaS company), merging the two businesses to form a global education and corporate learning platform led by CEO Murad Velani.
Inkling has been acquired
This company is no longer available on our private secondary market.
Company data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Founded
2009
Employees
51–200
Total Funding
$73M
6 rounds
Latest Valuation
$0.1B
December 13, 2016
Total raised $73M across 6 rounds
Funding data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Last updated 06-25-2026
Latest Round
Type
Series E
Date
December 13, 2016
Amount
$25M
Valuation
—
Lead Investors
| Date | Round | Amount Raised | Valuation | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 13, 2016 | Series E | $25M | — | Sapphire Ventures |
| May 6, 2015 | Series D | $15M | — | Not disclosed |
| July 2013 | Series C | $16M | — | Sequoia Capital |
Murad Velani
CEO, Echo360 (parent of Inkling)
Matt MacInnis
Co-Founder (former CEO)
Competitor list is illustrative and may be incomplete, stale, or erroneous.
Axonify
Frontline employee enablement and microlearning platform using AI and brain science for knowledge retention; direct competitor in deskless workforce training.
Docebo
Publicly traded (NASDAQ: DCBO) cloud LMS with AI-powered learning recommendations, used by enterprises for corporate training including frontline use cases.
EdCast (by Cornerstone)
Learning experience platform acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand, focused on career skill journeys and corporate workforce upskilling.
SC Training (SafetyCulture)
Mobile-first frontline training platform (formerly EdApp) for deskless workers, part of SafetyCulture.
TalentLMS
Cloud-based corporate LMS frequently listed as an Inkling alternative for SMB and mid-market training.
LearnUpon
Enterprise LMS for employee, customer, and partner training; alternative to Inkling in corporate learning.
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