• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 3, 2016

Google has acquired Synergyse, a Toronto-based startup that offers a training service for Google Apps through a Chrome extension.

While details of the financial terms were not disclosed, Google did disclose plans to integrate Synergyse Training into the core Google Apps suite some time this year.

Built on the Google Cloud Platform, Google describes Synergyse Training as a "virtual coach" inside of the Google Apps interface. Synergyse's service has trained more than 4 million people in 3,000 organizations, the company estimates.

“By joining the Google Apps team, we can accelerate our mission because we will be working even closer with the teams that build Google Apps," Synergyse founders Varun Malhotra, Majid Manzarpour, and CTO Alex Kennberg wrote in a blog post. "Advancing our mission at a faster speed is very exciting for the Synergyse team and our customers will directly see the benefits as we move forward."

For instance, when Gmail adds a new feature, Synergyse can provide an overview of what has changed. Lessons are directed with visual aids, accompanied with audio and text.

The platform can take actions on the user's behalf. Training is provided inside Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Sites, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Synergyse automatically updates new features in Google apps and provides updated training within 14 days. It also provides detailed reports. The company says it sees an average of 35% higher adoption rates across app products that support training.