2nd August 2023

West Midlands EdTech company receives MEIF support

A thriving Wolverhampton based edtech business that has doubled turnover year-on-year to date, has secured a £450,000 investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme.

School of Coding delivers both online and in-person science and coding education to children, adults, and teachers. The company provides thousands of lessons per month to its students through their bespoke, in-house e-learning platform and education centres in Wolverhampton, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and the Black Country. The company also has partnered with a number of universities, schools and colleges thereby making its platform available to a wide range of interested users across the UK.

The MEIF funding will be used to underpin its growth strategy, simultaneously creating 23 new jobs to support the growth of the business.

With the closure of schools and tuition centres when the pandemic hit in 2020, School of Coding CEO and founder, Manny Athwal, took a novel approach to pivoting his business towards offering e- learning options by providing free online coding training to hundreds of families across the UK. This has since earned the company a significant upturn in student numbers, resulting in consistent growth throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic period.

Manny said: “We are delighted to be working with FSE to aid our growth potential – with the MEIF funding in place, we are expecting to double our turnover again by increasing activity across all our services, particularly furthering the roll-out of our e-learning platform to schools.”

Ryan Cartwright, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, commented: “Despite a difficult economic landscape, Manny and his team continue to grow School of Coding and create jobs here in the West Midlands & Shropshire region. With a number of revenue streams across both online and in-person coding classes , the company has multiple avenues for expansion and we look forward to helping them achieve their growth potential.”

As coding becomes a more integral part of the school curriculum, education providers will be seeking tools to support their teaching and School of Coding is well-positioned to deliver on this.

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “This investment from the MEIF will allow School of Coding to expand the business while creating new jobs in the region. The MEIF backs businesses with growth potential that can have a positive impact on the economy in the region and this investment is a perfect example to showcase the MEIF’s commitment to supporting innovative growing businesses in the Midlands.”   

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2022 and the European Investment Bank. The FSE Group manages a section of MEIF that provides investments between £100,000 and £1.5 million to support growing SMEs across the region. For more information visit: www.thefsegroup.com/fund/midlands-engine-investment-fund-debt-finance.