Online education platform Codecademy announced Tuesday it has closed on a $40 million Series D round led by Owl Ventures, bringing the 10-year-old company one step closer to achieving its ultimate goal of “teaching the world to code.”
Codecademy’s interactive coding classes are designed for both people who want to improve within their existing career, and people who are looking to change careers and need the skills to make the move. This has caused the platform to be in especially high demand amid the pandemic, when tech skills have become increasingly important and online learning is a necessity.
The company’s co-founder and CEO Zach Sims sees Codecademy’s growing user base as a symptom of a larger “societal shift,” and believes that this recent success has “proven that online education is here to stay.”
“Pre-pandemic, people were thinking, ‘Online learning is cool, but it can never replace in-person learning.’ Now, I think we’ve been able to prove that thesis incorrect,” Sims told Built In. “As a result, I think you’re going to see a lot of people realize that they just don’t need to go to physical places anymore. So it’ll really expand the types of people that are interested in learning online, and make businesses like ours go-to tools that people can use to level themselves and careers up.”
This sentiment is shared by Amit Patel, Owl Ventures’ managing director.
“Codecademy has been on our radar for a long time, as one of the early, long-standing leaders in online learning,” Patel said in a statement. “We could not be more excited to help the team continue its impressive growth trajectory and deliver its mission to empower the world with technical skills.”
As for this latest funding round, Sims says Codecademy has been cashflow positive for a while, so the money will be used to expand its curriculum into new subject areas and invest in its B2B offering Codecademy for Business. The company also has plans to grow its business internationally, particularly in India where Sims believes its approach to edtech can really thrive.
“India, I think, has one of the most developed markets for software development, number one. Number two, it has one of the fastest growing younger populations. It also has one of the highest track records of success in education technology,” he said, citing the recent success of similar companies like WhiteHat, Unacademy and others over there.
In the meantime, Codecademy is in the process of doubling its headcount, with more than 50 open tech positions available at its NYC headquarters.
