REUTERS | Leading U.S. coding boot camps Galvanize, Hack Reactor to merge
By Salvador Rodriguez
July 19, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Denver-based computer coding training school Galvanize is to acquire competitor Hack Reactor in a deal that brings together two of the largest privately held coding boot camps, the two companies told Reuters.
Galvanize serves students, corporate customers and co-working tenants in seven U.S. cities. Hack Reactor’s operations in San Francisco, where it is headquartered; New York; and Austin, Texas, will be consolidated in Galvanize’s campuses in those cities.
“We believe we have the team and the assets to be the leader in technology boot camps for individual students and corporations,” Galvanize Chief Executive Al Rosabal told Reuters in an email interview.
The companies did not disclose the size of the deal.
The schools teach technology skills ranging from web development to data science over the course of a few weeks but several for-profit coding academies have closed or merged over the past year.
Additionally, Galvanize has secured a $32 million funding round led by Catalyst Investors, an equity firm based in New York. The school had previously raised approximately $70 million in funding. Hack Reactor had raised $1 million from friends and family, according to its CEO, Harsh Patel.
Galvanize will use the new funding to continue growing, acquire additional boot camps and further expand geographically, Patel told Reuters.