According to Pluralsight, the acquisition of Next Tech will allow it to integrate hands-on experiences directly into its existing content from world-renowned technology experts.

Hands-on skill development has been shown to accelerate the learning process. Many people have experienced this in everyday life: if someone shows you how to do something and then weeks or months before you have an opportunity to do it yourself, you'll probably forget. But if you perform the task under the other person's supervision, it's more likely to stick in your mind – especially if you have an opportunity to practice shortly after.

For large enterprises with significant skills development needs, the combination of hands-on experiences with on-demand content in Pluralsight Skills provides the most efficient way to upskilling and reskilling teams, the company claims.

"Digital transformation is no longer a nice to have but a need to have. For large enterprises to successfully navigate their own digital transformations, they have to invest in the skills of their team and hands-on skill development can be a powerful tool in delivering a faster path to upskilling and reskilling," said Pluralsight co-founder and CEO Aaron Skonnard.

"There's no question hands-on skill development can make a big impact on results and the acquisition of Next Tech enables us to offer a more comprehensive solution by combining video content from our expert authors with complementary hands-on experiences.

"Next Tech is a powerful addition to strengthen our value proposition with our customers by providing an all-in-one offering and we are excited to welcome them to the team."

Next Tech founder Saul Costa said "I'm proud of what we have built at Next Tech and all of the opportunities we have created for learners over the past six years.

"What started out as an auto-grading tool for a former professor has developed into a full platform for immersive, hands-on skill development. I'm incredibly excited to join Pluralsight to bring hands-on experiences and accelerate the path to developing tech skills for large enterprises around the world."

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.