Within the changing landscape of professional development, the popularity of online meetings has accelerated the global expansion of human resources tech company AD1 (ASX: AD1) to expand their online mentoring platform, Art of Mentoring, globally via a partnership with HR.com. 

By linking up with HR.com, Art of Mentoring will provide mentoring programs for HR professionals all around the world with the website boasting 1.9 million members, albeit mostly based in the United States. 

Through the Art of Mentoring platform, HR practitioners will be matched to provide members with an opportunity for deeper levels of professional development, enabling younger HR professionals to link up with more seasoned counterparts. 

The program will be managed by Art of Mentoring on behalf of HR.com and is valued at $100,000 to AD1 for the first 12 months. 

HR.com would then recoup the expenses via their membership fees where membership tiers range from free accounts with limited service access, up to $399 per year for complete access. 

“This is an exciting development for Art of Mentoring, not just because of the contract value. It gives AoM direct contact with the HR professionals participating in the program, who are themselves potential customers for the AoM SaaS platform and related services,” said AD1 CEO, Brendan Kavenagh.

“In addition to the program, AoM will contribute to HR.com’s educational calendar, delivering mentoring expertise via virtual events, webcasts and joint research projects, marketed to the entire membership base.” 

Best known as the owners of recruitment service Apply Direct, AD1 has been steadily building out Art of Mentoring since acquiring the online mentoring business for $1.5 million in September 2020. 

This included a $130,000 contract earlier in the month from the Australian Department of Defence for a department-wide mentoring program. 

“AoM September Quarter revenue so far is 74% ahead of the same quarter last year, and 51% higher than last quarter. As described in recent announcements about Art of Mentoring’s outstanding growth performance over the last twelve months, AoM is reaping the benefits of the explosive growth in HR Tech in Australia,” added Kavenagh. 

For the Year ended 30 June 2021, AD1 reported a 65% increase in revenue to $6.04m but incurred a net loss after tax of $2.2m.