06 Nov SANDBERG CAPITAL ACQUIRES A MAJORITY STAKE IN GREEN FOX ACADEMY
Private equity firm Sandberg Capital has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Green Fox
Academy, a leading Hungarian coding bootcamp, that also operates in Slovakia and Czechia. By
offering junior developer and Salesforce specialist courses, Green Fox Academy focuses on career
changing, up-skilling programs, and corporate academies in the IT sector. As the first direct
investment in Hungary, this acquisition marks an important milestone for strengthening Sandberg
Capital’s Central European foothold.
Sandberg Capital, through the Sandberg Investment Fund II, acquired a stake in the fast-growing
Hungarian company Green Fox Academy (“Green Fox”). Shortly after being founded in 2015, Green
Fox became one of the leading players in the IT education segment in Hungary. Through a series of
online and on-campus classes, Green Fox can prepare those wishing to start their career in IT in just a
matter of months. It can also create curricula and academies tailor-made for the specific needs of
corporate clients. The company entered the Czech market in 2018 and since 2020 it is also active in
Slovakia. Green Fox employs 113 people and has educated more than 4000 IT specialists so far.
Following the investment, founders remain part of Green Fox’s management, with Kristof Bárdos as
CEO, Peter Langmár as Chairman of the Board, and Barbara Barath as General Manager.
„With the ever-present push for digitization, basic IT skills are becoming essential across 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.
“During the past seven years, we have built one of the strongest IT training brands in Central and
Eastern Europe. We looked for an investor who is committed to educational innovations, strives for a
positive social impact and can provide the financial resources and know-how for faster regional
expansion. The Slovak private equity firm 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 new dimensions for strengthening our corporate business and for
international expansion.” said Kristóf Bárdos, Co-founder and CEO of Green Fox Academy.
From the very beginning, we were guided by the vision of helping as many people as possible to build
a future-proof career. We have developed a wide-ranging training portfolio that includes career
changing and upskilling programs as well as corporate academies tailored to unique needs of
companies. We managed to build a stable and profitable company and are glad to have Sandberg
Capital on board to further support our vision and growth.” added Péter Langmár, Co-founder of Green
Fox Academy.
After the transaction, Sandberg Capital assumes the role of strategic investment partner for Green Fox
Academy, with Jakub Krajčovič as Vice-president and Natália Letková as a Member of the Board. The
parties decided not to disclose further details of the transaction.
ABOUT SANDBERG CAPITAL
Sandberg Capital is a Slovak private equity firm founded in 2014. Sandberg focuses on investments in
small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovakia and the CEE region in the sectors of IT,
telecommunications, agriculture, education, and retail. Sandberg Capital manages over EUR340m on
behalf of private and institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund – one of the
largest European investors.
ABOUT GREEN FOX ACADEMY
Responding to IT labor market needs, Green Fox Academy started to train career changers wanting to
become junior developers in October 2015 as the first super intensive, full-time software developer
bootcamp in Hungary. Its mission is to build a bridge between IT companies fighting for good
professionals and ambitious young people seeking better opportunities. In line with it, the bootcamp
also helps its successful graduates find employment in the IT industry, in the same time it provides
project-ready IT talents for its corporate partners, even in case of specific technology needs.