The Philippines is facing an urgent need to prioritise digital skills development among its workforce. According to the 2023 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, the country ranked 59th out of 64 countries in overall digital competitiveness, scoring low on knowledge and talent, technology, and future readiness.

This is the problem that KodeGo aims to solve as an edutech platform.

“Our key differentiator is really that the model we operate on prioritises accessibility and affordability,” explains KodeGo CEO Ina Gervasio.

“The courses that we provide range from basic digital skills all the way up to intermediate-level skills, which allows us to cater to all types of interests and needs of both students and companies. This ensures our students gain practical knowledge and skills that are highly sought after by companies. We also endorse our graduates to companies who are looking for digitally skilled workers, which allows us to support companies in bridging the gap.”

Launched in 2020, KodeGo implements a flexible payment scheme that includes a study-now-pay-later format while providing end-to-end career assistance and support for its students post-training. Each curriculum takes between two and 22 weeks to complete.

Also Read: Bold moves: Capitalising on market dips in edutech

KodeGo is a portfolio company of 917Ventures, a corporate venture builder and the innovation arm of Globe Telecom. The platform provides digital skills training programmes that offer multiple courses, including full-stack web development and virtual assistance. It also provides courses in virtual bookkeeping and basic transcription.

“Aside from mastery of these in-demand tech stacks and skills, KodeGo also focuses on cultivating essential soft skills crucial for tech professionals. These include staying updated on current industry trends, fostering effective communication, honing problem-solving abilities, nurturing leadership qualities, and fostering creativity,” Gervasio says.

To date, the platform has had more than 2,000 graduates, many of whom have been successfully hired by the likes of GCash and Accenture.

Gervasio further explains that KodeGo users consist of participants of a diverse range of backgrounds, including career-shifters aiming to upskill in tech and individuals with minimal to no prior knowledge of tech but aspire to build a career in the field.

“To easily reach a nationwide audience, our acquisition strategy primarily relies on online marketing through Meta, Google, Tiktok, etc. Our Kwentong KodeGo campaigns featuring KodeGo students JM and Lorraine helped us leverage the positive experiences and successes of our graduates to attract new learners to our platform,” she explains.

Also Read: A sneak-peek into the six edutech startups joining EduSpaze’s cohort 8

“We have had music teachers, undergraduates, housewives, and more on the website, many of whom successfully found employment opportunities after completing KodeGo courses.”

Talking about the business model, she further explains that the company’s flexible payment options allow it to earn through different streams, from one-time payments, monthly instalments as students go through the courses, and another monthly instalment after they have been hired.

“In line with this, we also do not charge placement fees from our partners so there is less burden to both our students and partners,” Gervasio points out.

Towards a brighter future

KodeGo is run by a lean team from its base in Manila. In 2024, the company wants to focus on fostering B2B partnerships, engaging with local governments, and launching more courses.

It is also looking forward to launching its first scholarship programme that will allow KodeGo to cater to even more underserved communities in the Philippines.

Also Read: In this age of digitalisation, is edutech a bane or boon for educators?

“We launched Training-as-a-Service (TaaS) in 2023, and because of the high demand, we will be further expanding and enhancing it this year. TaaS allows us to work with companies to customise a curriculum or boot camp specific to their employees’ most crucial needs, hyperfocusing on what it takes to make them more productive and deliver optimal results,” Gervasio closes.

“This, however, does not stop us from fine-tuning and refining our current operations as we continue to learn and test along the way. There is definitely a lot to look forward to from KodeGo.”

—

Image Credit: KodeGo

The post KodeGo wants to make digital skill development programmes more accessible to Filipino workers appeared first on e27.