Global digital creation platform, Picsart has announced the acquisition of learning platform Code Republic for an undisclosed amount to expand its educational division ‘Picsart Academy‘.
Operating since 2016, Picsart Academy provides world-class learning opportunities for the most qualified students in IT, including web development, AI, machine learning, data science, product management, and more.
The acquisition of Code Republic will allow Picsart Academy to support additional programs and expand into more locations.
Speaking on the acquisition, Artavazd Mehrabyan, Co-founder & CTO at Picsart said, “Picsart was founded as the result of collaboration between a teacher and his students, so education and learning have always been at the heart of our DNA.”
“This acquisition allows us to scale Picsart Academy and take education to the next level with the help of the talented and passionate Code Republic team,” Mehrabyan added.
As part of the acquisition, all 20+ Code Republic employees will join the Picsart Academy team. Code Republic’s Founder Vardan Grigoryan is a boomerang Picsart employee, having previously worked at the company as a Senior Engineer for more than two years. He’s also been teaching coding boot camps regularly since 2012, where he developed expertise in spotting and developing talent.
Grigoryan is rejoining Picsart as Director of Picsart Academy, leading the company’s educational efforts to attract new talent.
Picsart Academy courses are currently offered in the Armenian language only and will be hosting in-person classes in Yerevan this month. The team plans to launch English language courses online later this year and expand in-person courses to additional cities. For more information on Picsart Academy, visit Picsart.Academy.
“My passion lies in teaching and educating students, which is why I founded the Code Republic,” Grigoryan said. “This acquisition means advancing my mission with access to additional resources and opportunities to educate the next generation of engineering talent. Joining a company so deeply rooted in education is the perfect fit, and I can’t wait to bring in our first class of students.”
This is Picsart’s third acquisition, after the acquisition of Computer Vision and AI company DeepCraft late last year and advanced video effects company “D’efekt” in 2020.