Coding Dojo, the software engineering bootcamp operator headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has been acquired by Perdoceo, a publicly traded company based in Illinois that owns online academic institutions, including Colorado Technical University and the American InterContinental University System.

The acquisition was finalized on December 1 and was disclosed in Perdoceo’s annual earnings report released last Thursday. The agreement entails an initial cash payment of $52.8 million, with the potential for an additional $15 million in payments contingent upon meeting specific financial performance targets.

Established in 2013, Coding Dojo specializes in training software engineers in various fields, such as computer programming, data science, and cybersecurity. Notably, it is ranked 40th on the GeekWire 200, an index of prominent Pacific Northwest startups.

In recognition of its commitment to supporting underserved communities and refugees, Coding Dojo was awarded the Geeks Give Back award at the annual GeekWire Awards last year. Since its inception, the bootcamp has provided $13 million in scholarships and tuition assistance.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coding Dojo transitioned to an exclusively online business model but has subsequently reopened some of its physical locations. The company now operates under the umbrella of Colorado Technical University and no longer maintains physical offices.

Importantly, Coding Dojo will continue its day-to-day operations, retaining its existing brand and workforce of 194 employees. The company had previously licensed its courses to institutions worldwide and secured $10 million in venture debt in June.

Despite a rising demand for technical talent, access to university-level computer science education remains highly competitive. According to Course Report, there are over 500 code schools worldwide.

Richard Wang, the CEO and co-founder of Coding Dojo, previously held executive positions at Trupanion, a pet insurance company, and served as a chief of staff at Boeing. He also serves as a venture partner at NextGen Venture Partners.

Perdoceo boasts approximately 4,000 employees and reported revenues of $695.2 million in the previous year, marking a 0.3% increase from 2021.

Traditional on-premises identity management falls short of meeting today’s demands. Modern organizations require automated, cloud-compatible Identity Access Management (IAM) systems to effectively authenticate and authorize a large number of remote users. In decentralized work settings, agility is crucial.

One company that’s striving to establish a nimble cloud IAM system is Saviynt, a provider of identity and access governance solutions. Saviynt recently announced a successful fundraising round, securing $205 million from AB Private Credit Investors’ Tech Capital solutions group.

Saviynt’s Enterprise Identity Cloud (EIC) is a cloud-native, unified identity platform specifically crafted to streamline identity and access management across various domains, including workforce, enterprise applications, privileged accounts, and third-party identities, all within a single comprehensive solution.

This innovative approach empowers security teams to efficiently oversee the entire identity lifecycle, utilizing automated workflows to govern identities at scale across on-premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments.

Protecting identities in the cloud

Funding is being provided in response to the persistent struggle organizations face in safeguarding identities from malicious actors. Research indicates that within the past year, 80% of organizations have experienced breaches related to identity security.

One of the primary obstacles contributing to this security gap is the absence of necessary technologies and processes within organizations, hindering the consistent enforcement of access management controls across both on-premises and cloud environments.

Sachin Nayyar, CEO and founder of Saviynt, emphasized the critical role applications play in modern organizations and their pivotal role in digital transformation. Managing identity in the cloud presents a central challenge, involving the need for secure and dependable access control to resources, all while preserving user privacy and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. This challenge is amplified by the substantial growth in the number of identities, spanning employees, third parties, and machine identities. Additionally, it entails guarding against unauthorized access and preventing over-provisioned access. Furthermore, the integration and synchronization of identities across diverse cloud environments and on-premises systems can pose a significant challenge.

Reviewing the IAM market

Saviynt operates within the Identity and Access Management (IAM) market, a sector that was valued at $12.3 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $34.5 billion by 2028 as organizations grapple with increasing security and compliance challenges.

Among its notable competitors is SailPoint Technologies, a cloud-based IAM provider offering the SailPoint Identity Security Platform, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for real-time access discovery and automation. In the previous year, Thoma Bravo acquired SailPoint Technologies for $6.9 billion.

Another significant contender in this field is Okta, which provides the Workforce Identity Cloud solution. It features single sign-on, adaptive multifactor authentication, and lifecycle management capabilities. Okta anticipates generating total revenue of $1.8 billion in 2023.

Nayyar contends that Saviynt’s distinctive advantage over its rivals lies in its cloud-native approach to identity security. He stated, “Unlike traditional identity security providers like SailPoint, Saviynt offers a cloud-native, unified identity platform encompassing workforce, enterprise applications, privileged, and third-party identities. This approach delivers the optimal user experience for addressing a wide range of use cases with the highest return on investment and lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).”