Rails Girls

What Rails Girls does

Rails Girls is a Finland-based non-profit volunteer community founded in 2010 by Linda Liukas and Karri Saarinen that teaches women the fundamentals of web development through free, weekend-long Ruby on Rails workshops. The organization operates entirely without paid staff, with each city event independently organized by local volunteers who recruit coaches and secure venue sponsorship. The first event in Helsinki in November 2010 drew over 100 interested women, and since then the initiative has scaled to more than 400 events across at least 27 countries spanning Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Oceania, and Africa.

Name

Rails Girls

Legal name

Rails Girls

Website

https://railsgirls.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rails Girls is a Finland-based non-profit volunteer community founded in 2010 that runs free Ruby on Rails coding workshops for women worldwide. Since launching it has held 400+ events across 27+ countries, funded entirely by sponsors and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tech Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Computer Training (61142), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Coding & Programming Learning Platforms (EDAFANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Coding, Game Design & Computer Science Camps (EDAMALAD), Introductory Coding (Block-Based & Beginner) (EDAMACAA)

Keywords

• Women coding education
• Ruby on rails training
• Tech workshop programs
• Nonprofit tech education
• Beginner programming workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Grants: Rails Girls operates as a non-profit. The Finnish operations receive base funding from the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication. Rails Girls Summer of Code is funded by Travis Foundation. Local events are funded through local sponsors and partners who provide venues, food, and other resources.
2. Event Organization (Free for Participants): All Rails Girls events are free for participants. The organization does not charge for workshops. Revenue is not generated from participants - instead, costs are covered by sponsors and grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rails Girls is a global, non-profit volunteer community that runs free weekend-long coding workshops teaching women the fundamentals of building web applications with Ruby on Rails, including design, prototyping, and basic programming. The organization supplements these workshops with open-source educational guides available in multiple languages and a paid 3-month open-source contribution program called Rails Girls Summer of Code.

Product overview

Rails Girls is a global, non-profit volunteer community that provides tools and a community for women to understand technology and build their ideas. The organization operates through free workshop events where participants learn sketching, prototyping, and basic programming, as well as through its open-source Rails Girls Guides platform which provides step-by-step tutorials for building web applications with Ruby on Rails. The main offerings include Rails Girls Workshops (free weekend coding events), the Rails Girls Guides (comprehensive open-source tutorials covering installation, app development, styling, deployment, authentication, testing, and more), and the Rails Girls Summer of Code (a paid 3-month open-source contribution program). All materials are freely available and licensed under Creative Commons.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rails Girls Workshops Free, weekend-long hands-on workshops that teach women the fundamentals of building web applications with Ruby on Rails, including design, prototyping, and basic programming. Open to women of any age with basic computer knowledge and no prior coding experience.
• Rails Girls Guides Open-source, community-contributed tutorials and guides for learning Ruby on Rails, covering installation, building first apps, styling, deployment, authentication with Devise, testing with RSpec, and more. Materials are freely available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.
• Rails Girls Summer of Code A 3-month paid program that enables Rails Girls participants to contribute to open-source projects. Made possible by the Travis Foundation. Designed for women who have begun learning through Rails Girls workshops to continue their development through real project work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of women have attended Rails Girls events globally
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

30 partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• Sino-Finnish Centre (中芬中心)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2012The Sino-Finnish Centre at Tongji University and Aalto University partnership provides funding and support for Shanghai Rails Girls events. Jointly funded by the Chinese and Finnish governments.
• Girls in Tech ChinaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal partner supporting Rails Girls Shanghai event, helping with outreach and organization in China.
• Shanghai on RailsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Ruby on Rails community group supporting the Shanghai Rails Girls event with coaches and expertise.
• Startup SaunaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFinnish startup ecosystem organization that supported Rails Girls Shanghai with resources and connections.
• 七牛云储存 (Qiniu)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCloud storage provider that sponsored the Shanghai 2015 Rails Girls event, providing data hosting services.
• Japan Ruby Association (日本Rubyの会)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese Ruby users group that supports Rails Girls Japan activities and helps translate materials.
• Lunar LogicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolish Rails development company, Poland's first Rails shop since 2005. Supported Rails Girls Kraków events.
• ApplicakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolish Ruby on Rails development company that hosted Rails Girls Kraków events and provided organizational support.
• GoogleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored Rails Girls Kraków and other events globally, providing recruitment support and resources.
• WebMusesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKrakow-based community for women exploring IT, co-organized Rails Girls Kraków events.
• HerokuminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCloud application platform that sponsored Rails Girls events, providing free hosting for deployed applications.
• GitHubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVersion control platform that hosted Rails Girls San Francisco installation party and sponsored events globally.
• betahausminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBerlin-based coworking space (largest in Europe) that hosted Rails Girls Berlin events and provided venue.
• SoundCloudminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored Rails Girls Berlin events, supporting the local tech community initiative.
• WoogaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBerlin-based social games developer (third largest worldwide) that sponsored Rails Girls Berlin.
• CookpadmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese recipe website company (120+ million recipes, 15 million monthly users) that hosted Rails Girls Tokyo 2012 at their offices and provided sponsorship.
• paperboy&co.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese internet service company (operator of Lolipop hosting) that sponsored Rails Girls Tokyo. Transitioned company to Ruby in 2012.
• Everyleaf (万葉)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese Ruby on Rails development company that sponsored Rails Girls Tokyo events.
• Eiwa System Management (永和システムマネジメント)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese software company and Ruby on Rails specialist that supported Rails Girls Japan events.
• EY-OfficeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese company providing Ruby on Rails and iPhone private lessons, supported Rails Girls Japan.
• AirbnbminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored Rails Girls San Francisco events, supporting women in tech education.
• AirbrakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerError tracking service that sponsored Rails Girls San Francisco events.
• LocawebmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian web services company that hosted Rails Girls São Paulo 2012 at their auditorium.
• CaelumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Ruby/Rails education and development company that co-organized Rails Girls São Paulo.
• PlataformatecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Ruby on Rails consultancy that co-organized Rails Girls São Paulo.
• ThoughtWorksminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal IT consultancy that co-organized Rails Girls São Paulo and other global events.
• Codeminer 42minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Ruby development company that co-organized Rails Girls São Paulo.
• ZendeskminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCustomer service software company that hosted Rails Girls Kraków 2023 at their Krakow office.
• AirHelpminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal air passenger rights company that sponsored Rails Girls Kraków 2023 as Emerald Sponsor.
• Smart PensionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal retirement technology business with 100+ Polish colleagues in Engineering that sponsored Rails Girls Kraków as Ruby Sponsor.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Django Girls: Volunteer-run, non-profit organization that runs free weekend coding workshops teaching the Django web framework to women. Operates with the same community-led model, sponsorship structure, and open-source guides format as Rails Girls, making it the closest analogue (mirror for Python/Django vs. Ruby/Rails).
• Women Who Code: Global non-profit community supporting women in technology through local events, study groups, and hackathons. Directly comparable mission of advancing women in tech via community-driven programming, though with a broader career-stage focus than Rails Girls.
• Girls Who Code: Non-profit working to close the gender gap in tech by offering coding programs for girls and young women. Directly comparable mission and target demographic (women learning to code), though Girls Who Code operates more structured formal programs with institutional funding.
• Girl Develop It: Non-profit organization offering affordable coding classes and workshops for women, using a chapter-based volunteer model similar to Rails Girls. Directly comparable in mission (bringing more women into tech) and target audience (absolute-beginner women learners).
• Code First: Girls: Social enterprise delivering free coding courses to women and non-binary individuals, often hosted at corporate partner venues. Highly comparable in mission, free-to-participant model, and corporate-sponsorship-driven funding structure.
• Codebar: Non-profit that runs free coding workshops pairing students from underrepresented groups with developer coaches. Closely comparable in free-workshop model, coach-driven format, and focus on underrepresented learners in tech.
• Black Girls CODE: Non-profit providing technology education for girls of color, including workshops and hackathons. Directly comparable mission of bringing underrepresented groups into tech through accessible, beginner-friendly coding programs.

Emerging players

• Lesbians Who Tech: Community organization mobilizing LGBTQ+ women and allies in technology through meetups, mentorship, and a flagship summit. Comparable in mission of uplifting underrepresented women in tech and operates similar community-driven events and sponsorship-driven funding.

Broad incumbents

• Hackbright Academy: Women-focused software engineering bootcamp offering intensive, tuition-based training. Comparable in mission of training women in software development, but operates as a paid, structured bootcamp rather than a free volunteer model.
• Ada Developers Academy: Non-profit coding school focused on women and gender-expansive adults, offering a tuition-free, long-form developer training program. Comparable mission but operates a formal, cohort-based academy model with paid staff rather than volunteer events.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/railsgirls
• Facebookfacebook.com/railsgirls
• GitHubgithub.com/railsgirls
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rails-girls

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Rails Girls