SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 5, 2016) - Bloc, an online education company for aspiring software developers and designers, has acquired DevBridge, a career services startup focused on placing coding bootcamp graduates into web development careers. Terms are undisclosed.
The acquisition serves to expand Bloc's career support and job placement capabilities to meet the growing scale of its student base. DevBridge was in high demand to provide career support as a service to a number of leading coding bootcamps. There will be no layoffs and DevBridge will be fully integrated into Bloc immediately.
This is a timely strategic hire, as Bloc recently launched their Software Engineering Track, a 1 year, Computer Science degree alternative that includes a tuition reimbursement guarantee for graduates that do not get a job as a software developer.
Career support is critical, as the number of coding bootcamp graduates competing for web developer roles jumped in 2015. An estimated 16,056 students finished their programs last year; a 2.4x increase from 2014 (source: Course Report). Over the last year, Bloc surpassed 2,500 students and the team has grown from 15 to 90 employees.
DevBridge Founder and CEO Courtland Alves joins Bloc as the Director of Student Outcomes. Previously the CEO at Hitpost (acquired by Yahoo), Alves is an Engineering Manager who, having hired dozens of developers, knows what skills are required for web developers. DevBridge has placed recent coding bootcamp grads at Greylock and YCombinator backed startups.
About Bloc:
Bloc is an online education company with intensive mentor-led programs for aspiring developers and designers. Bloc relies on the time-tested apprenticeship model, combining experienced mentors and industry-vetted curriculum to offer students around the world a more accessible and effective alternative to an offline coding bootcamp or traditional computer science degree. Bloc was founded in 2011, and has raised $8.5M in cumulative venture investment from Shasta Ventures, Harrison Metal, Baseline Ventures, First Round Capital, and Learn Capital.