HyperionDev has launched a crowdfunding campaign to enable the digital skills provider to roll out online coding boot camps and help plug the digital skills gap in SA and internationally.
The campaign, run on the online platform Crowdcube, comes after the company last year closed what it calls the largest digital skills crowdfund campaign in Africa, when it collected R50 million in 12 weeks, from investments made on the UK-based crowdfunding platform.
Founded in 2012, HyperionDev offers specialised mentored coding boot camps, which take place either online or on-site at its Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses. Backed by Facebook and Google, the edtech firm partners with top-ranked universities, such as the University of Edinburgh, to deliver university-certified coding boot camps.
Since closing last year’s edtech crowdfunding round, the firm says it has doubled its annual revenue and is in potential partnership discussions with university association, the Russell Group.
“Our aim is to cement our leadership in the EMEA market and secure partnerships with 10 of the world's top 50 universities to collaborate on boot camps across the globe by the end of 2022,” says HyperionDev CEO Riaz Moola.
“To date, we have teamed up with the University of South Africa and the University of Edinburgh, and we are currently in talks with over 40% of the Russell Group, comprised of 24 world-class UK universities, to provide university-certified online coding boot camps.”
There is growing local and global demand for coding skills, he continues. In SA, the Department of Home Affairs recently released the new Critical Skills List, which is primarily geared towards attracting foreign nationals but also serves as an indicator of the kinds of jobs and skills needed in the country.
“Among these critical skills is applications programmers, software developers and data scientists – all of which have coding as a prerequisite,” adds Moola.
“In the years preceding the pandemic, there were calls for businesses to partner with universities and other institutions of higher learning. But since the crisis, the need for this has become even more pressing.”
By being part of the crowdfunding campaign and donating from as little as R200, members of the public have the chance to make a real impact by enabling the skills provider to scale its programmes and reach more trainees, concludes Moola.
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