CODINGAME RAISES $1.6 MILLION TO BECOME THE MUST-HAVE GAMING PLATFORM FOR PROGRAMMERS
CodinGame, a startup that enables programmers to master the craft of coding through interactive games, has announced a $1.6 Million round led by ISAI, BlablaCar’s early investor, along with its existing investors (Angels from Seed4Soft group). The financing will be used to accelerate the US growth, already #1 country on the platform, strengthen CodinGame’s international presence to reach 1 Million developers within 1 year, and fuel upcoming innovations on its technology platform.
CodinGame aims at helping developers hone and showcase their coding skills the fun way. Launched in September 2014, the platform provides developers with a unique free online playground to practice their coding skills in 20+ programming languages (ranging from Java to Python, Ruby, C#, Scala, Groovy, or even Bash).
“Games and programming share very similar psychological mechanisms”, says Frédéric Desmoulins, Co-founder and CEO of CodinGame. “Programming is all about getting an adrenaline shot while solving challenges, being confronted to failures and perseverance, with, in the end, this incredible feeling of accomplishment as a reward when you achieve to get that bit of code finally working. The reason why we became programmers in the first place is often because as video game players, we wanted to be able to go beyond the game and control it. So we decided to merge both fields into one exciting platform”.
An engaging multiplayer real time coding platform
CodinGame turns complex programming problems into immersive games where lines of codes have replaced pads and where players get a visualisation of their programs through animated graphics. The games are designed for Advanced Beginners to Expert programmers and range between four difficulty levels. An Onboarding module provides step-by-step guidance for first-time users to get familiar with the platform.
Different modes are available to tackle different needs in practicing programming: the Solo mode helps developers learn and train individually, the Multiplayer mode lets them discover Artificial Intelligence programming by fighting against hundreds of other players in real time, whereas the Clash of Code specials allows them to challenge their friends on 5-minute coding battles.
To date, the award-winning platform is probably one of the most technically accomplished on the market with its complete browser-based IDE and scalable distributed Cloud architecture able to host several thousands of coders and have them compiling their code simultaneously.
More than 200K coders in 160 countries (USA being #1)
The addictive nature of the platform leads to an average daily usage of 45 minutes on the site. The players’ personal profile stands as a programmer portfolio showcasing coding skills under the form of earned badges and rankings in a variety of leaderboards.
CodinGame is proud of its community and diversity is what makes it unique. Developers from all backgrounds join to share their passion for programming with their peers. If star Graduates from Stanford rub shoulders with Google employees as well as bright self-taught coders in a competitive spirit, players also collaborate together with a true sense of mutual help. The goal of the platform is thus to continue to make it more accessible for more novice programmers who want to keep progressing, supported by a community of mentors.
In a few months, CodinGame has brought together more than 230,000 developers in 160 countries. Thanks to its steady viral growth that has been multiplied by 6 over the past 6 months, the community is expected to reach 1 Million users in the next year.
Empowering developers to learn and sharpen their skills the fun way
“The CodinGame team has done a lot to take the platform much further than its insanely addictive games. The strong engagement players show gave us the feeling that it was going to become a must-have at every stage of a developer’s life”, says Christophe Raynaud, Managing Director at ISAI.
Learning and staying up-to-date with technology is part of every developer’s DNA. CodinGame’s aim is also to accompany its members to land jobs that match their talent and ambition, no matter their diploma or resume.
“We want to help developers to keep learning, get better, and build amazing things. Our goal is to develop learning modules on the platform to empower users acquire new skills and fulfill their professional goals whatever their initial skill level”, says Aude Barral, Co-founder and CMO.
Hundreds of tech companies among which majors such as Nintendo, eBay, Adobe, or Ubisoft regularly sponsor CodinGame’s online coding contests and offer positions.
About CodinGame:
CodinGame is a platform where programmers can sharpen their coding skills through games and share their passion for programming with their peers. The startup is on a mission to change the way people enjoy programming. More than 500 customers already rely on its expertise to shape their employer brand and connect with top talent through hackathon sponsoring. CodinGame is headquartered in Montpellier, France, and plans to open offices in San Francisco.
Contact:
Aude Barral - CoFounder
aude@codingame.com
www.codingame.com
+33 674 632 708
About ISAI :
ISAI, the french tech founders’ fund, was founded by Pierre Koscuisko-Morizet, Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux, Stéphane Treppoz, and Ouriel Ohayon and is managed by Jean- David Chamboredon, Christophe Raynaud and Pierre Martini. ISAI has raised €150m mainly from more than 100 entrepreneurs such as the founders of Alloresto (JustEat), Aufeminin (AxelSpringer), Betclic, Boursorama, Criteo, Fortuneo, Micromania, Mistergooddeal, Overblog, Netcentrex, Onedirect, Photoweb, Pick-up Services, Photobox, Seloger, ShowRoomPrive, Sophis, Slimpay, Sunrise, Travelprice, Twenga, Toluna, Vente-privee, Voyagermoinscher, Webhelp. Since its first deal in june 2010 in Blablacar, ISAI has backed about 20 companies among which Stickyads, TinyClues, Evaneos or Shopmium which was recently acquired by Coupons.com (QUOT).