Budapest-based IT education startup Codecool secured €3.5mn of Series-B round venture capital funding, provided by Lead Ventures and Portfolion to finance its European expansion, it was announced on February 26.

The labour shortage in the IT sector in Hungary is estimated at 27,000 according to a 2016 survey, but the actual figure may be even larger than that. The figure approaches one million in the EU. Experts see demand rising further for skilled IT staff.

In 2015 a group of Hungarian businessmen founded Codecool IT, which launched a disruptive model to train people with digital skills and provide employee placement. In three years, Codecool has trained and helped 400 people with no previous qualification in the digital field to fulfil a programming job.

Codecool places its students graduating in IT jobs with 100 corporate partners in seven countries. The company was the first to provide its programming training with a job placement guarantee, with a 99% success rate, it said. Courses consist of 12 months of theoretical, and six months of practical training.

At present 500 people are studying at the four campuses in two countries, Poland and Hungary, which is set to rise to 800 as the network of education hubs enter the Romanian market by the end of this year.

"Codecool’s approach to training is completely in line with Lead Ventures' aim to find innovators in the market and support their expansion. Access to capital to fund innovation will be of crucial importance for the future competitiveness of Central and Eastern Europe", said Abel Galacz, CEO of Lead Ventures.

In 2017, OTP Bankʼs venture capital affiliate PortfoLion provided Codecool with an investment of €2mn.

The company aims to become one of the most significant service providers in Europe in the field of training digital workforce and talent management by 2023, according to the statement. Codecool plans to open 10 campuses and to develop an alumni network of nearly 10,000 people by 2023.

Codecool reported €3.2mn in revenue last year, up from €1.3mn in 2017 and it aiming at €5mn this year.

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