Sandberg Capital acquires a majority stake in Green Fox Academy, the capital and strategic support provided thanks to the transaction opening up new dimensions for the strengthening of Green Fox Academy’s corporate business and international expansion.

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Budapest, October 25th 2022 – With the involvement of a new investor and majority owner, Sandberg Capital, Green Fox Academy continues the international expansion and the development of corporate services and courses. The Hungarian-founded IT bootcamp, which is also the market leader in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, expects to gain crucial resources for further growth. The partnership with Sandberg will enable the company to be at the forefront of the consolidation efforts taking place in the Central European technological education market.

‍The rapid digitization of many industries and the lack of properly trained IT workforce are putting corporations under ever increasing pressure to implement their technological developments more efficiently. Companies are more inclined to take part in the training of IT specialists, the demand for reskilling and upskilling tailored to company needs is on the rise, and the opportunities of the tech sector present an attractive perspective for more and more jobseekers.

In line with these trends, the technology education market is expected to grow significantly in the upcoming years. Green Fox Academy, thanks to its diverse portfolio of courses, strong corporate business and uniquely complex services, is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in the regional digitization efforts. Green Fox is considered one of the most successful companies dealing with IT education in the CEE region. In the Czech Republic, the company achieved a market-leading position in 3 years, while in Slovakia in just 1 year, and proved to be an indispensable player in IT education in Hungary, operating profitably in all three countries. Green Fox’s results to date and its growth potential have made the company an appealing investment opportunity for Sandberg Capital. Sandberg Capital acquired the majority stake in Green Fox through the EUR130m Sandberg Investment Fund II. The private equity firm will continue to support the development of Green Fox Academy as the majority owner and strategic partner.

„With the ever-present push for digitization, basic IT skills are becoming essential across a variety of industries. The traditional education system is, unfortunately, unable to fulfill such demand. We believe that together with Green Fox, we will be able to support the digitization trend in the CEE region,” says Jakub Krajčovič, Investment Manager at Sandberg Capital. “Central Europe is widely known for its manufacturing heritage. However, ongoing automation will not only require IT specialists for the everyday operation of many companies. Workers will have to adapt to changing conditions and re-skill themselves to find new opportunities on the market. Green Fox is well positioned to assist them and play a significant role in the CEE’s transition towards a knowledge-based economy,” adds Krajčovič. While this is Sandberg’s first direct investment in Hungary, it is the third one in the sector of education.

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Green Fox was founded in 2015 by Péter Langmár, Tamás Kökeny, Kristóf Bárdos and Barbara Fazekas with the aim of creating a bridge between IT companies fighting for good professionals and ambitious young people looking for better career opportunities. “With my co-founders and our honorary co-founder, Barbara Varga-Baráth, we were guided from the beginning by the vision of helping as many people as possible to build a future-proof career. We have developed a wide-ranging training portfolio, which includes career changing and upskilling programs as well as corporate academies tailored to unique needs of companies. We successfully entered the market in the Czech Republic and then in Slovakia. Thanks to conscious planning, we operate the company in a stable and profitable manner. By September 2022, more than 4,000 people have already participated in our career-changer and other IT training courses. We are glad to have Sandberg Capital on board to further support our vision and growth.” said Péter Langmár, co-founder of Green Fox Academy.

“During the past seven years, we have built one of the strongest IT training brands in Central and Eastern Europe. We were looking for an investor who is committed to educational innovations, strives for positive social impact and can provide the financial resources and know-how for faster regional expansion, on a larger scale. Sandberg Capital proved to be an ideal partner, particularly due to their vast expertise in the sectors of education and IT. The financial resources and know-how provided by Sandberg open up new dimensions for strengthening our corporate business and international expansion.” said Kristóf Bárdos, co-founder and CEO of Green Fox Academy.

The company continues to operate under the direction of Kristóf Bárdos, with the same management and professional staff as before. The implementation of the growth strategy is supported by Péter Langmár in the position of Chairman of the board, which is supported by two professionals from Sandberg Capital, Jakub Krajčovič as Vice-president and Natália Letková as a Member of the board.

Previously, Green Fox closed two investment rounds – first, in 2018, led by the angel investor Péter Balogh (Baconsult) and Széchenyi Venture Capital Fund Management Ltd. Second round, in 2020, was led by Impact Ventures Ltd., the only impact investment fund in Hungary. After the investment by Sandberg Capital, Péter Balogh continues the work with Green Fox as a minority shareholder. Other investors sold their stakes and exited the company.