●      Code First Girls lands Series A funding to provide one million free opportunities for women to learn to code and join the industry in the next five years

●      Investment will provide women with £1bn worth of economic opportunities in the tech industry

Code First Girls, a female-founded, fast-growing UK business that supports women into coding education and employment for free, announced today (7 September) a £4.5m Series A fundraise from female angel investors and a leading investment firm to accelerate the company’s growth and close the gender gap in the traditionally male-dominated tech industry.

The funding, from consumer-focused investment firm Active Partners and prolific female angels including a former director of Bumble and CEO and Founder of Peanut, CEO of notonthehighstreet.com, former VP of Monzo and Co-Founder and COO of Stealth, CEO and Founder of the UpGroup, and COO of MoneyBox, will enable the company to reach an ambitious new target of providing one million opportunities to women to learn how to code and secure a job in tech over the next five years.

Active Partners, the lead investor, boasts an impressive portfolio of well-known brands including Leon, Rapha, Soho House, and Honest Burgers. The funding round has also attracted support from CEOs and COOs of leading companies like Bloom & Wild.

There is a stark gender gap in the tech industry, with women making up just 21% of the UK’s tech industry and black women making up less than 3%. The UK’s tech job market is projected to be worth £30bn by 2025 – six times larger than it is now – and a diverse talent pipeline will need to be put in place in order to unlock this value. However, analysis by Code First Girls of employment and higher education data finds there will be one qualified woman for every 115 roles by 2025. 

As part of its ambition to provide one million opportunities to women, alongside free online courses at every stage of the pipeline, Code First Girls plans to put over 26,000 women through the ‘CFGdegree’ and place them into tech roles over the next five years. Given an average starting salary in tech, this equates to over £1 billion in economic opportunities for women entering into the tech industry.

Founded by Alice Bentinck MBE and Matthew Clifford MBE, who also co-founded startup accelerator Entrepreneur First, Code First Girls has been transitioning in recent years from a social enterprise to a rapidly accelerating profit-making business. Anna has driven this repositioning, and now has Founder status.

Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls, said:

“At Code First Girls, our mission is to close the serious, long-term gender gap in the tech industry by giving women the opportunity to learn to code and get jobs in tech, at no cost to them. We’re growing at an incredibly fast pace, with businesses, government and universities across the country getting on board because they recognise we’ve found a model that works.

“We’re proud of both our social and commercial impact, having already taught 80,000 women to code for free, linking talent with jobs, and having recently 10xed our revenue and user base. Our next goal is to become the world’s first EdTech unicorn dedicated to women.

“This funding round is a vote of confidence from major figures in the tech industry, who see our pioneering model as a solution to the tech gender gap. We’ll use this investment to provide one million opportunities for women to learn to code for free and enter the industry, driving a huge £1 billion in economic opportunities for women and a boost for the entire sector.”

Tom Profumo, Investor at Active Partners, said:

“Traditional education providers are failing to address the significant tech talent shortages across the industry today, as well as the huge lack of diverse talent. Code First Girls offers the solution to this problem. By providing free coding courses for all women and supporting them into employment at some of the world’s biggest companies, Code First Girls is facilitating social mobility, boosting the diverse tech talent pool and addressing the tech skills gap.

We have been very impressed by what Anna and the team have achieved so far and the company’s transformative impact on so many women’s lives. We look forward to joining Code First Girls on this exciting next phase of growth and supporting the team to achieve its mission to close the gender gap in the tech industry.”

Claire Davenport, CEO of notonthehighstreet.com, said:

“I passionately believe we need to give women more routes into the tech industry. 

“There is still a fundamental inequality in terms of the encouragement girls receive to get into tech, access to learning and information, and the number of female role models in the sector. All of that works together to cut women off from future careers in tech and the many opportunities such careers can bring.

“I believe Code First Girls is providing a way of rebalancing that inequality, as well as boosting social mobility and giving women from every background the chance to get into a brilliant career. By opening up routes into the tech industry for women, whatever stage they are at in life, we are not only supporting women into rewarding roles but providing a huge injection of talent for the industry itself.”

Michelle Kennedy, CEO and Founder of Peanut, said:

“Investing in Code First Girls was one of the easiest investments I’ve made to date. Anna is an extremely impressive CEO who has a clear vision not only to train more women in order to secure roles in engineering and tech more broadly, but as importantly, to create a funnel to meet the demand from employers for world class talent. Another example that bringing women into tech is not solely about equality, it’s just great business.”

Rona Ruthen, Co-Founder and COO of a stealth mode start-up (former VP at Monzo), said:

“The tech industry is full of opportunity, but far too many women are still facing barriers to entry. I’m delighted to support Code First Girls as it plans to scale up and provide more women with routes into this exciting industry. As a Female Founder in tech, I’m passionate about boosting diversity and inclusion in the sector and empowering the female entrepreneurs of the future.”

Rosaleen Blair CBE, Founder of Alexander Mann Solutions, said:

“I’m investing in Code First Girls to help close the gap which sees female founders and leaders in tech still seriously outnumbered by their male counterparts. This company is playing a unique role in supporting women into tech at every stage of the pipeline, and its plans to reach even more women and provide them with opportunities for education and employment are very exciting.

“The fact that this fundraising round has been joined by so many leading female angel investors shows how strongly we all feel about the need to support the next generation of female tech talent.”

Karen Kerrigan, COO of Moneybox, said:

“As COO of a fast-growth tech company, I’ve seen and felt the challenges of hiring tech talent over the last 10 years in a very real way. Whilst Moneybox has worked with CFG this year it’s been evident how their programmes both provide women and non-binary people with fulfilling careers, and help businesses access the richness delivered by diverse talent. I’m delighted to now have the opportunity to support this business on a personal level as an investor.”

Clare Johnston, CEO and Founder of the Up Group, said:

“Supporting a fantastic female founder whose mission is to support helping more women to code and pursue a career in tech was an easy decision to make. Anna is building a fantastic business and I’m delighted to be involved.”

Alice Bentinck, Co-Founder of Code First Girls, said:

“Code First Girls is special because it’s practical. Our DNA is all about doing – providing young women with the practical skills, confidence, and community to break into the tech world and progress through it.

“It’s a privilege to continue being a bridge between organisations who are keen to improve diversity and women who want to be an active part of the tech sector.

“Anna’s work scaling the business has created the next era of Code First Girls, and I’m excited for its future building up more female leaders of tomorrow.”

Matthew Clifford, Co-Founder of Code First Girls, said:

“There is a desperate need for more diversity in tech and we founded Code First Girls to deliver it. Following the success and astounding growth we’ve had, investors are clearly sitting up and taking notice. Their faith in our model will support us to significantly scale up the company and bring our work to more tech businesses.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Code First Girls, and we have ambitious plans to reach even more women, providing one million more opportunities for education and employment, turbocharging the tech industry and boosting the economy.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

About Code First Girls

Code First Girls has already helped 80,000 women learn to code and by working with companies globally, is boosting employability, diversity and social mobility, and transforming local economies and communities. 

Code First Girls is now the largest provider of free coding courses for women in the UK, having taught five times as many women to code as the entire UK university undergraduate system. Existing partners include NatWest, Goldman Sachs, Ford, BT, Deloitte and Skyscanner.

About Active Partners

Active Partners is a consumer-focused investment firm that backs and builds the iconic brands of tomorrow, partnering with visionary founders through all stages of growth. Founded in 2004, Active Partners has invested in world-class businesses such as Honest Burgers, LEON, Secret Cinema, Soho House, Finisterre, The Fold, Northern Monk, and Rapha. For more information, visit www.active.partners.

Angel Investors include:

Michelle Kennedy, Former Director at Bumble and CEO and Founder at Peanut

Rona Ruthen, Co-Founder and COO at Stealth and Former VP at Monzo

Clare Johnston, Founder of UpGroup

Claire Davenport, CEO at notonthehighstreet

Rosaleen Blair, CBE, Founder and Chair at AMS

Karen Kerrigan, COO at MoneyBox

Phillip David Burton, COO at Bloom & Wild

Statistics on the tech workforce are from ONS (2019), 2021 Built-In Report: Women in Tech Statistics Show the Industry Has a Long Way to Go, and TECH TALENT CHARTER 2021 D&I REPORT. 

By 2025, there will be 3 million new roles in software, AI/machine learning, data analysis, cyber. By 2025, there will only be 26,000 newly skilled women graduates – 0.87%. (Microsoft data science using LinkedIn data, UCAS data)