WeThinkCode, a South African edtech startup, has secured a R9.2-million investment from E Squared Investments towards the implementation of a new campus in KwaZulu-Natal.
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According to reports by the edtech, the capital investment will be paid out over three years and will be used towards equipping the building, staff resourcing, and the costs towards establishing the new curriculum.
Cheryl Jacob, Head of Social Entrepreneurship at E Squared comments on the investment made into WeThinkCode’s new campus.
“As an impact investor whose mandate is to attack poverty and unemployment in South Africa, there are strong synergies between WeThinkCode’s involvement in assisting disadvantaged young people and E Squared’s social entrepreneurship initiative,” said
WeThinkCode
Founded and launching in 2015 by Camille Agon and Arlene Mulder, WeThinkCode is a software programming training academy that is committed to providing South Africans with education in the tech space.
The edtech startup plans to launch a campus in KwaZulu-Natal this year.
Nyari Samushonga, CEO of WeThinkCode provides insight into the aims of the edtech startup and the launch of the new campus.
“We know that South Africa has a vast pool of untapped talent with the aptitude to be trained in technology. At the same time, our youth unemployment is among the highest in the world. Like any successful business, WeThinkCode is evolving and continually improving its operating model and this includes making our programmes accessible to more people. Geography plays an important role here as many candidates are unable to access our existing campuses. Hence our decision to open in Durban, South Africa’s third-biggest metropole.”
Although the edtech startup conducts most of its lessons online, there are critical teaching phases where students need to be taught in person. The software programme courses offered at WeThinkCode require that students complete two internships during the two-year course and this must be undertaken near students’ homes.
WeThinkCode’s two-year software programming course is fully sponsored.
Inclusiveness is at the helm of the pillars of the edtech startup and as such, it is focused on increasing the number of female software programmers in SA.
“The academy is open for everyone. Specifically, we aim to increase the number of women programmers on our course each year. Our target is for women to exceed 40 percent of our 600-strong student contingent,” adds Samushonga.
Geographical expansion and the inclusion of more women are not the only evolutionary processes happening at WeThinkCode.
“Finding candidates with the best aptitudes and attitudes is crucial and we are using a newly-developed approach to identify talent and uncover the required cognitive skills. In addition, we draw on the expertise of leading technologists for the design of our course material. These experts are continually updating the course as technologies change,” she concludes.
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Featured image: You X Ventures via Unsplash
