When Katrina Walker came to live in Barcelona from San Francisco (USA), she found herself working in a very masculinized technology sector. This reality was what pushed her to leave data science to found the startup CodeOp, an online school from which she helps other women acquire the skills necessary to thrive in the field of technology. Since 2018, more than 800 women have been trained in CodeOp, most from Spain, but also from other countries around the world.
“We help women, trans and non-binary people (women) make the transition to the sector, but also improve their skills to aspire to greater responsibilities or salaries,” explains the founder, who serves as executive director of the school. Seen another way, Walker highlights that CodeOp “helps companies in the technology sector recruit female talent.” The training is carried out in collaboration with public administrations, NGOs and private companies.
Based in Barcelona and operations in Brazil and Malaysia, the emerging company offers courses in Catalan, Spanish, English and Portuguese, which has allowed it to have students in 70 countries. Among the teaching staff, professionals from multinational companies such as Amazon, Meta or Spotify, among others, stand out, and the school ensures that 80% of the students are hired within six months after completing their training.
CodeOp has raised an investment of 2.5 million euros in different financing rounds. Investors include Ship2B Ventures, Sabadell Venture Capital, Thomas Meyer (founder of Desigual) and Heiko Rauch (founder of Zanox). The startup has also been the recipient of several awards, such as a TEDx Barcelona award in the gender equality category and a Women Startup Awards in recognition of the company’s outreach work. Some of the recognitions received are directly for the founder. Katrina Walker has been considered one of the 10 best entrepreneurs in Catalonia in 2023 by the EAE business school, and among the 100 most influential European women in startups and venture capital by EU-Startups.
With a staff of a dozen people, plus the collaboration of personnel external to the company, CodeOp closed the year with a turnover of 1.2 million euros. In the year just ended, the startup has achieved the B Corp certificate, a seal of great international prestige that distinguishes organizations with sustainable environmental and social practices.
