Codecool and Software Development Academy (SDA), two leading Central European EdTech companies, recently announced a merger to create one of Europe’s biggest digital skilling and sourcing powerhouses.
Through the merger, the two companies will jointly use their resources to create new qualification & retraining courses adapted to new technology requirements and will together contribute to reducing the shortage of IT specialists in the markets in which they operate.
According to the press statement, the two merged companies will be present in 8 countries (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia and Albania) and will annually train 15,000-20,000 individuals and teams from 400 global companies and locals from Central Europe. Among them are key partners such as Accenture, Microsoft, Motorola, Morgan Stanley, Ericsson and Vodafone.
With over 300 employees, 17 training and digital conversion courses and a network of 1,600 mentors, Codecool and the Software Development Academy (SDA) offer, in synergy, training, improvement and conversion courses to individuals, companies and governments. Moreover, two successful professional retraining programs have already been implemented in the public sector, benefiting 10,000 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists in Albania and 600 engineers in Hungary. In addition, the company resulting from the merger builds Digital Academies intended for business partners in the IT&C industry. Together they deal with both the selection of potential candidates and the development and adaptation of the curriculum to the specific technical needs of the companies. Such Academies are already operating, successfully,
Based in Gdynia (Poland), Software Development Academy (SDA) is the first Programming Academy and the largest in the CEE offering training profiled for the needs of the ICT market. The company is an irreplaceable partner in upskilling, reskilling and recruitment processes of entire teams. By combining technological and industry knowledge, SDA training provides companies with unique value, increasing employee efficiency and stimulating business development.
Responding to the latest move, Chief Executive Officer of SDA, Michał Mysiak, said:
“There is a global battle for digital talent, especially coders and programmers. Our main aim is to provide high-quality digital skilling for employees and employers – but on a much larger scale. The combination of Codecool and SDA – with distinct regional and category strengths – will boost the skills level of Central Europeans who are hungry to learn and will be pivotal to the digital transformation of Europe and beyond.”
SDA claims to have closed to 150 employees, having more than 15,000 graduates already, and 100+ corporate partners. The startup is present in six countries.
Chief Executive Officer of Codecool, József Boda, added:
“This is an exciting new chapter for both companies where we create a real powerhouse for digitalization. Through our consolidated digital skilling programs, we continue to serve the needs of individuals, companies and governments. Graduates from our courses are in high demand, especially as Western European and U.S. organisations look to outsource or find additional talent while lowering costs.”
Headquartered in Budapest, Codecool is a privately founded, seven- years- old company, teaches programming in new ways, and changes lives by helping the students to start new careers. The programming courses are designed to make the career switch easy to an in-demand, digital profession, and secure one’s future in tech. It is present in four countries with close to 150 employees, having more than 2,000 graduates already, and 300+ corporate partners.
The two companies will keep using their strong consumer brands in their local markets as Codecool and SDA in the near future and will come up with new digital skilling training reflecting the rapidly changing technological environment. Alongside the current eight countries, the merged company will keep expanding into new geographic territories, strengthening its top position in the digital skills training sector.
