From left: Prodigy Learning's Andrew Flood and Heather Humphreys, TD. Image: Prodigy Learning
Earlier this year, Prodigy Learning announced plans to enter the US education market with its new product, Coding in Minecraft.
On Monday (9 September), Dublin-headquartered education technology firm Prodigy Learning announced the opening of its new US office in New York City.
Prodigy Learning, which was founded nearly two decades ago, has existing offices in Dublin, London and Sydney.
The company recently announced that it would be entering the US education market with the launch of its new programme Coding in Minecraft. This programme, developed by Prodigy Learning, features a computer science curriculum, skills assessment and a credentialing program.
Coding in Minecraft will be distributed by Certiport, a Pearson VUE business that provides online examinations and testing. Following the launch in the US, Coding in Minecraft will be distributed to 12,000 Certiport-authorised testing centres worldwide.
New York
Commenting on the opening of the New York office, Prodigy Learning CEO Andrew Flood said: “We are delighted to establish our US presence in New York with ‘boots on the ground’ to support our great US partner, Certiport, and customers in the region.
“The United States education market is a massive opportunity for us. The sheer scale of the US school-going population, with over 56m K-12 students, and the growing demand for digital skills, including coding, presents a deep market for our education products, including Coding in Minecraft,” he added.
“The technology sector is global and without frontiers. Skills requirements, particularly in computer science, are also shared. Our future as an Irish technology firm is built around growing our international customer base and driving export-led revenue growth, but all from our core Irish management and product development base.
“Over 70pc of our revenue is export-driven with the UK our largest market. This international expansion allows us to further diversify our business in the face of significant market uncertainties closer to home, principally surrounding Brexit.”
Ireland’s Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, TD, attended the launch event at New York’s Rockefeller Center.
Humphreys said: “Market diversification has never been more important than it is now with Brexit on the horizon. Irish companies already make a significant impact to the US economy, but I want to see that footprint growing even further.”
Overseas footprint
Over the past two years, companies supported by Enterprise Ireland have opened 119 new offices in the US.
Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon said: “Since establishing itself almost 20 years ago, Prodigy Learning continues to build scale and break into new global markets.
“Not only is it an award-winning exporter contributing to Ireland’s overseas footprint, but it is providing a software product that will ultimately inform a whole new generation of innovators and teach them skills that will fuel their creativity.”
Prodigy Learning first expanded into the UK in 2008, when it opened an office in London. In 2016, the company began serving European partners from its Dublin base, and in 2017 the company opened an office in Sydney, Australia.
The company was recently announced as Certiport’s EMEA Partner of the Year 2019, and received the Small Firms Association’s Exporter of the Year award in 2019.
