What AtCoder does

AtCoder Inc. is a Tokyo-headquartered software company founded in 2012 that operates one of the world's leading online competitive programming platforms. Its core product is a real-time, browser-based contest platform hosting regularly scheduled algorithm contests (ABC for beginners, ARC for intermediate, AGC for experts) and heuristic optimization contests (AHC), supplemented by an Elo-based rating system covering both divisions and a problem library of 8,000+ items. The platform supports submissions in 100+ programming languages via an automated judge system that returned deterministic verdicts (AC, WA, TLE, RE), and includes a flagship C++ AtCoder Library (ACL). Weekly contest cadence, editorial broadcasts on YouTube, and marquee events such as the AtCoder World Tour Finals sustain a global community of competitive programmers drawn from institutions including MIT, the University of Tokyo, ITMO, Peking University, and the University of Warsaw.

AtCoder's commercial model is enterprise-side and operates free for individual participants. Revenue is generated through contest sponsorships from Japanese and international corporates (including Recruit Holdings, Unique Vision, Future Corporation, and Preferred Networks), recruitment services via the AtCoderJobs marketplace, programming skill certification through TOPSIC and the Algorithm Practical Certification exam, and career services under the AtCoderCareerDesign brand. The company has raised approximately $2.69 million in a single disclosed funding round led by Dentsu in April 2019 and has not disclosed subsequent financing. AtCoder is privately held, founder-led under CEO chokudai (Makoto Soeno), and operates with 51-100 employees from Tokyo, serving a global audience that is most concentrated in Japan and East Asia.

Name

AtCoder

Legal name

AtCoder Inc.

Website

https://atcoder.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

AtCoder Inc. operates a global online competitive programming platform serving individual programmers and Japanese enterprise customers. It monetizes via contest sponsorships, the AtCoderJobs recruitment marketplace, and TOPSIC programming skill certification from its Tokyo headquarters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Competitive Programming Platform

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Competitive Programming & Algorithms (DSA, Olympiad-Style) (EDAMACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Test Center Management & Onsite Proctoring Systems (EDAFADAJ)

Keywords

• Competitive programming
• Online judge platform
• Coding contests
• Technical recruitment
• Algorithm contests

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contest Sponsorships: Companies sponsor regular contests (ABC, ARC, AGC) and special events, with their logos and branding displayed on contest pages. Sponsors include technology companies, recruiting firms, and major Japanese corporations.
2. AtCoderJobs: Job placement and recruitment service connecting companies with programmers based on their AtCoder ratings. The service matches employers seeking technical talent with skilled competitive programmers.
3. Enterprise Services: Corporate training, team competitions, and recruitment solutions for companies seeking to identify programming talent.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AtCoder Inc. operates an online competitive programming platform that hosts regularly scheduled algorithmic coding contests (ABC, ARC, AGC, AHC series) with an automated judge system, a global user rating system, and an engaged community of competitive programmers. Beyond contests, the company sells recruitment and corporate assessment services through AtCoderJobs (a marketplace connecting rated engineers with employers) and TOPSIC (a programming certification/testing product for enterprises).

Product overview

AtCoder is a competitive programming platform operating as a single unified product with multiple contest formats and related services. The core product hosts real-time online programming contests, with two main divisions: Algorithm contests (ABC/ARC/AGC) and Heuristic contests (AHC). Related services include AtCoderJobs (job matching for programmers), アルゴリズム実技検定 (Algorithm Practical Certification exam), TOPSIC (programming skill certification system), AtCoderCareerDesign (career services), and AtCoderInfo (educational resources).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AtCoderJobs: Recruitment service using AtCoder ratings for hiring technical talent.
• TOPSIC
• AtCoderCareerDesign
• AtCoderInfo

Products and services

• AtCoder Competitive Programming Contest Platform Web platform that hosts regularly scheduled algorithmic programming contests (ABC, ARC, AGC, AHC series) for individual competitive programmers; provides automated judging, a global rating system, and standings.
• AtCoderJobs Recruitment platform that connects technology employers with AtCoder-rated competitive programmers seeking engineering roles; marketed to corporate HR/talent acquisition teams.
• TOPSIC Enterprise programming skills assessment and certification service that allows companies to test candidates' coding ability using AtCoder-style problems.
• AtCoder Library (ACL) Curated, open-source library of competitive programming algorithms and data structures (primarily in C++) that contestants may use during contests.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and regular.

• Unique Vision Corporation (ユニークビジョン株式会社)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerRegular sponsor of AtCoder Beginner Contests. Hosted 'UNIQUE VISION Programming Contest 2025 Summer' with prize donations and recruitment activities targeting AtCoder users.
• リクルート Holdings (Recruit Holdings)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor sponsor of Japanese Student Championship contests and various AtCoder programming competitions. Engages in recruitment activities through the AtCoder platform.
• Future Corporation (フューチャー株式会社)regularGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of AtCoder contests, particularly ARC series. Uses platform for technical recruitment of programming talent.
• Preferred Networks, Inc.regularStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology company with employees (semiexp, tatyam) who are top-ranked AtCoder users, demonstrating alignment with technical excellence in competitive programming.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Codeforces: Codeforces is the closest direct peer to AtCoder: a real-time competitive programming platform hosting algorithm rounds with Elo-style ratings, serving top-tier global ICPC talent. AtCoder and Codeforces even maintain a collaborative cross-platform linking arrangement noted in AtCoder's partnerships.
• CodeChef: CodeChef is an India-based competitive programming platform with regular rated contests, a star-based rating system, and an active contestant community. It overlaps with AtCoder's ABC/ARC/AGC and student-championship programming, though with a heavier long-challenge format.
• HackerRank: HackerRank is a direct peer in coding challenges, contests, and enterprise technical assessment, with a strong enterprise-recruitment monetization model. It competes with AtCoder on the AtCoderJobs/TOPSIC side of the business more than the pure competitive-programming side.
• LeetCode: LeetCode is a direct peer in online coding assessments and competitive programming, running weekly/biweekly contests with rating systems and serving both individual practice and corporate hiring (LeetCode for Companies). Its scale is larger but the contest-monetization-then-recruitment model directly mirrors AtCoder's ABC/ARC/AGC plus AtCoderJobs thesis.
• TopCoder: TopCoder is one of the original competitive programming platforms, with SRM (Single Round Match) contests and a rating system historically comparable to AtCoder's. Its community has contracted since its peak, making it a relevant but weaker direct peer for contest-format and talent-signal benchmarking.

Emerging players

• HackerEarth: HackerEarth combines competitive programming hackathons, developer assessments, and enterprise recruitment services. Its assessment-and-recruitment model closely parallels AtCoder's TOPSIC + AtCoderJobs + Corporate Training stack, although with a heavier India and freelance focus.
• Kaggle: Kaggle runs competitive contests (data science competitions) with rating systems, problem archives, and corporate-sponsored prize pools. Adjacent in category rather than direct overlap - AtCoder's AHC heuristic contests share more with Kaggle's optimization-competition model than with traditional algorithm rounds.
• Codility: Codility provides pre-employment coding assessments and short-format coding tests for enterprise customers, directly overlapping with AtCoder's TOPSIC certification and AtCoderJobs recruitment offerings. Less focused on competitive programming and more on enterprise screening workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/atcoder
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AtCoderLive
• Facebookfacebook.com/AtCoder

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AtCoder