Thinkful, an online coding school, has raised $9.6 million through a series-A funding round. The funding round was led by U.S. Owl Ventures and Tribeca Venture Partners. The round also involved previous investors including Peter Theil and RRE Ventures in New York. This funding should help the company with in-person career development programs in different cities across the United States.
Thinkful recently launched its online web development and data science classes in Phoenix. The company has acquired Viking Code School and the Odin Project, both of which are “outstanding communities of web developers,” said Thinkful CEO Darrell Silver. “By combining two of the best programs in the industry, we will continue to provide students the quality education our organizations are known for, while training the tech talent employers are searching for nationwide.”
Thinkful was formed in 2012, based out of Brooklyn, New York. Now, the company has a presence in six cities which include Atlanta, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), San Diego, and Phoenix
They offer flexible training programs in data science, front end development, full stack development, and full-time engineering immersion programs. The tuition fee is from $500 per month for the front-end developer program to $14,000 for a term of five months for the engineering immersion programs.
Thinkful has a very different approach compared to other technical schools. Their classes are entirely online, and each student is paired with a mentor who connects with their assigned student twice a week, either in person or by telephone. According to CEO Darrell Silver, the programs are specifically designed for students who plan to keep their current jobs while looking for a change in field.
According to Silver, 9,000 students have graduated from Thinkful since 2012, and 92% of these graduates get jobs within six months of graduating from their courses.
“There’s a lot of places in the U.S. that are not on the coasts, where most of the tech growth is actually happening,” Silver told VentureBeat. “People want real stability, and they want tech jobs. As soon as we saw people’s reactions to what we were doing in Atlanta and a couple of other places, it became obvious we were onto something.”
