Five years ago, Hive Helsinki opened its doors with a mission to change tech education. Now, we celebrate its journey and achievements, marking a milestone in innovative learning. During its five-year history, Hive Helsinki coding school has trained hundreds of programmers to meet the needs of companies, achieving top-tier employer satisfaction.
The Start of Hive Helsinki
Like any good story, the one about Hive Helsinki starts in a pub. This time it's in London, where Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen meets with a friend and hears about this amazing new coding school in Paris called Ecole 42. At the moment the need for skilled coders in Finland is at a pinnacle and Ilkka finds the concept of Ecole 42 intriguing, so he decides to pursue his spark of interest. Meetings are set and plane tickets booked for a visit to this new kind of coding school in Paris.
After finding the right partners to drive the project a decision is made to bring this concept to Finland, to bridge the gap between untapped talent and the growing need for highly-skilled coders. A non-profit organization is set up (backed by Supercell) and with Drussila Hollanda (current Chairwoman of the board at Hive) driving the initiative, with help of many others, Hive Helsinki is founded and starts operating in 2019.
The education model of Hive Helsinki is based on the French Ecole 42 concept, which relies on self-directed peer-to-peer learning, problem-solving skills, and teamwork, without traditional teaching methods or teachers. Hive Helsinki is part of the global 42 Network, with schools in over 30 different countries.
An Alternative Education Path
Hive Helsinki is open to everyone, but the demanding learning method is not for everyone. On the other hand, it has provided a pathway to employment and education for those who have not found their place in traditional educational paths. Students include career changers, those who have dropped out of school, or those coming directly from secondary education. Upon graduation, Hive students have a 100% employment rate.
In April, our 6th batch of new students started studying at Hive Helsinki. Over half of them began with no prior coding experience, and 40% of the students are non-male, an impressive proportion in the field of technology. Overall, 60% of Hive's students were born outside of Finland, and after completing their studies, they have stayed in Finland to work. Hivers have been hired in varying fields by over 95 companies, such as Wolt, Nokia, Terveystalo, F-Secure, State Treasury, ABB and the National Opera to name a few.
In October, we are again kicking off the next cohort which will be the 7th since the start. To this date Hive Helsinki has received over 25.500 applications and the spots for participating in the final stage of the application process have been booked in seconds. This speaks of a robust demand for career shifts and coding education.
Adaptable technology professionals
As mentioned, behind Hive Helsinki is the game company Supercell, whose CEO, Ilkka Paananen has been a visible advocate for Hive Helsinki.
"The best coders graduate from Hive because the school's selection process is so rigorous and the studies extremely demanding. Succeeding in the program requires self-direction, perseverance, and teamwork skills. Anyone can apply to Hive, which allows combining previous substantive expertise with coding. This provides great potential, for example, for entrepreneurship in one's area of expertise." says Paananen.
A world reliant on technology and the accelerating change in the job market demand innovative and adaptable technology professionals. Hive Helsinki responds to the needs of a digitizing work environment.
"Finland needs technical experts who can develop and innovate company operations as the world changes. Hive's exceptional education program is one solution to this need." says Hive Helsinki CEO Emilia Puschmann.
Ensuring Hive's Continuity
Supercell brought the school to Finland and committed to funding Hive's concept validation phase. This included a €10 million support over the first five years, and Supercell continues to fund the school in the future. Now we are calling for new supporters to join.
"Supercell funded the pilot phase to see if the education model would work in Finland. The results have been incredible. For Hive's operations to continue and its impact to expand, we hope to find partners to support the project." says Paananen.
"Over 95 companies have already recruited talent from Hive, and 98% of them consider the recruitment excellent. The Finnish business sector benefits significantly from Hive's top talents, and we hope they will now participate in supporting the operations. The school's funding cannot rely solely on the contribution of one company." says Puschmann.