Hungarian IT education startup Codecool to enter Romanian market in late 2019

Codecool, an IT education startup from Budapest, has announced that it would enter the Romanian market in the fall of 2019 through a programming school, start-up.ro reports.

The company’s programming courses aim to prepare students to become full-stack developers in 12 months, regardless of their previous professional or educational experience.

Codecool was launched three years ago in Hungary and received a Series B funding of EUR 3.5 million from Lead Ventures and Portfolion. They already offer courses in Hungary and Poland and expansion will also include other countries besides Romania.

To date, Codecool has trained 400 people without prior digital experience and helped them find a job in the IT sector, at one of its over 100 partner companies.

The company will open a campus in Bucharest and courses are scheduled to start in September 2019.

“We see that the automation and digitalization of business processes are affecting every sector, from manufacturing and logistics to sales and administration, a change that requires a workforce that is equipped with digital skills, not just in tech companies but in every industry, whether they’re in manufacturing or in services. The growth of companies in the central and eastern European region will be defined by their ability to adapt to what’s called digital transformation,” said Codecool founder Balazs Vinnai.

Currently, Codecool is training 500 people across four campuses in Hungary and Poland, and their number will grow to 800 with the addition of the Romanian market.

“According to industry estimations, the Romanian market lacks about 50,000 IT professionals and by 2020, the country will have about 140,000 IT professionals. Over 60 percent of Romanian IT companies see recruitment as a business challenge. The discussions we’ve had over the past year and a half with local players on the IT market and those looking for a job have made us certain that Codecool is needed here and that we can improve the situation of IT employers and employees,” said Codecool CEO and co-founder Jozsef Boda.

Compared to other programming school, Codecool says it offers a complete and complex training to help trainees prepare for the challenges of the labor market in the 21^st century. The company has revolutionized traditional training models – besides providing digital skills, it also strongly focuses on developing soft skills like conflict resolution, business thinking and creating a feedback culture, all crucial factors in the current work environment.