About a year ago, media outlets lit up with news that coding bootcamp Dev Bootcamp had gotten acquired by Kaplan, Inc. But today, the “mergers and acquisitions” news beat takes a slightly different turn with Hackbright Academy. Why? The San Francisco-based coding school for women has just announced that it’s been acquired by Capella Education, a for-profit education company, for a cool $18 million in cash.
In an interview with EdSurge, Capella CEO Kevin Gilligan called this step "another extension of our strategy to provide the most direct path between learning and career advancement." He also shared that deciding to acquire Hackbright came down to seeing consistencies between Capella’s interests and Hackbright’s “powerful mission to change the ration of women in software engineering.”
Sharon Wienbar, Hackbright Academy's chief executive officer, agrees, adding, "From my first meeting with Capella, it was clear that they share our values and want to ensure Hackbright has what it needs to succeed and grow."
Around since 2012, Hackbright has graduated 364 women from its 12-week full-time program and another 279 women from its part-time program, reports Re/Code. The deal closed on April 22, and all 25 of Hackbright’s employees will join the Capella team.
