Digital skills education firm Codecademy raises R431 million led by Naspers to fuel further expansion

New York-based Codecademy has secured a $30 million (R431 million) Series C investment led by Naspers through its Naspers Ventures division. By Staff Writer

Codecademy’s existing investors, including Union Square Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Index Ventures and Sir Richard Branson contributed to the round.

The new funds will allow the digital skills education firm to grow its team to accommodate further international growth, extend the capabilities of its innovative platform, build its mobile presence and develop additional course content to even better serve its users.

“Since we founded Codecademy in 2011, we have seen an explosion of interest in learning to code as a key component of a 21st century education,” said Zach Sims, CEO of Codecademy. “With millions of monthly users, and more than 50 percent of those outside the US, there is a great opportunity in partnering with Naspers to expand our business to deliver a wider breadth of courses in more languages and new geographies to create an education that allows anyone to access economic opportunity.”

Codecademy provides a path for learners to become coding experts without attending a traditional educational institution, which could be a game changer in developing countries.

Learners discover concepts such as HTML/CSS, Javascript/jQuery, Python, Ruby, PHP, and APIs interactively by actually writing code and getting constant feedback from peers, creating a networked approach to learning.

“Traditional universities are poorly equipped to meet the evolving demands of technology students and employers, and Codecademy fills an important and valuable gap in the market,” said Larry Illg, Naspers Ventures CEO. “The quality of the Codecademy product and the team’s execution have enabled a global footprint today and positions it well for future expansion.”

Founded by Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski in 2011 to bridge the increasing gap between the skills taught in schools and the skills required by the modern workforce, Codecademy offers an entirely new, networked approach to learning which allows users to interact with students across the globe, build amazing projects, and apply their skills to improve their lives.