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- The tech-ed startup, focused on reducing the gender gap in the technology industry, aims to open new markets in Europe and Latin America
- CodeOp will continue to build extensive employment partnerships to ensure an increase in women+ entering into new positions in the tech industry with increased pay and/or responsibilities
Barcelona, July 14, 2021-. CodeOp, the first international technology school for women, trans and non-binary [women+], has closed a seed round to further build on its goal of reducing the gender gap in the tech industry. The round, which totals €1.25M, includes lead investors Ship2B, Thomas Meyer, CEO & Founder of Desigual, Berlin based serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Zanox, Heiko Rauch, and Sabadell Ventures, who complete the round with 250,000 euros in venture debt.
CodeOp was founded in Barcelona in 2018 by San Francisco Bay Area native Katrina Walker, in response to the lack of women and gender minorities in technology-related roles. With a mission to provide the safe space, training, and resources needed to support, and equip women+ with the skills they need to thrive in the tech industry, CodeOp has established campuses in Barcelona and Malaysia, in addition to offering all courses remotely. With a +127% YoY revenue growth and +197% YoY customer growth following Covid-19, this latest round of funding comes after CodeOp’s 2019 pre-seed round, raised from 23 business angels from The US, Israel, Spain, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, and France.
Currently, CodeOp offers three technical sector courses and has trained more than 200 women from over 60 different countries. In 2020, 90% of CodeOp’s students managed to secure work in the sector within six months of completing their courses.
With this round of investment, the startup seeks to increase these figures by expanding its campuses to new countries in Europe and Latin America and making key hires across these roles. The tech-ed startup aims to enter Brazil this year and Mexico and Germany in 2022, with a goal to implement 10 campuses in key emerging cities by 2025. CodeOp will also continue to broaden its hiring network over the next few months in line with it’s vision of changing the culture of tech worldwide. “We’re working to establish some game-changing, job training partnerships in the next few months” says Katrina, who believes an increasing number of tech companies are now working to develop their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programmes to provide solutions in training and upskilling women+.
“Creating CodeOp was really an exercise of troubleshooting my own problems” says Katrina. “In this case, finding a community of mission-driven folks who not only enjoyed technology, but also valued the prospects of its social applications. It was a no-brainer that an impact venture capital fund would be an ideal match for CodeOp when we decided to raise our first valued round, and from the onset of meeting the Ship2B Venture team, I immediately knew that we could do great work together.”
“The gender gap is a persistent problem in the vast majority of technological teams. Bootcamps have helped, but they haven’t fixed it. CodeOp’s approach is unique, creating a high-level academic program while generating a space of safety and inclusive culture for all participants. We are very happy to support Katrina and the entire CodeOp team in our first investment as an impact venture capital fund ”, says Xavier Pont, co-founder and managing partner of Ship2B Ventures.
CodeOp is an international tech school that offers courses for women+ (inclusive of trans and non-binary). We’re dedicated to changing the culture of tech and focus on providing our students with the safe space, support, training, and community they need to become leaders in their field.
For media inquiries, please contact Ejiro Oviri, Head of Brand, at ejiro@codeop.tech
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