What Go Friends does

GoFriends IT Academy (legal name ГО «GoFriends IT Academy», EDRPOU 42304469) is a Ukrainian non-profit charitable organization founded in 2018 by IT entrepreneur Yevhen Moiseev (Євген Моісеєв) and headquartered in Stryi, Lviv Oblast. The organization provides free IT and digital-professions training to orphaned children and children from difficult life circumstances (CJO), including internally displaced persons and low-income families, structured as a three-stage funnel: offline/online master classes for career orientation, a 10-day residential IT Camp where participants develop startup projects, and a 4–8 month IT Academy program covering nine disciplines (Front-end, Back-end, Web-design, SMM/Marketing, IT Recruiting, Video Production, Project Management). Graduates are placed into Ukrainian IT companies, with documented placements at Brainstack_ as Motion Designer and Help Desk staff.

The technology stack is conventional and instructional rather than proprietary: web development curricula cover HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React JS, PHP, Python/Django and NodeJS; design covers Figma, Canva and Adobe Photoshop; video uses Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas; marketing covers Facebook Ads Manager and Google Ads. There is no AI/ML component, no software-as-a-service product, no mobile app, and no documented API. Outreach and fundraising run through a WordPress website (gofriends.com.ua), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, local press (Informator, Pravda.Tut Lviv), and the WayForPay payment gateway, with donations accepted in UAH, EUR, USD, Bitcoin, BNB and Ethereum.

The business model is donation-funded rather than revenue-generating. All services are free to beneficiaries; per-beneficiary support costs are disclosed at $115/month per person or $300/month per family. The organization reports 11–50 employees, has no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and is supported institutionally by the Ukrainian President's Commissioner for Children's Rights (Mykola Kuleba), the National Children's Council, and the Child Protection Center "Our Children." Since 2018 the program has trained 380+ Academy students and 285 children across 5 IT Camps, with expansion to Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in June 2023.

Name

Go Friends

Legal name

ГО «GoFriends IT Academy»

Website

https://gofriends.com.ua

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GoFriends IT Academy is a Ukrainian non-profit, founded in 2018, that provides free IT and digital-skills training through master classes, 10-day IT Camps, and a 4–8 month Academy to orphans and children from difficult life circumstances, placing graduates into Ukrainian IT companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Vocational IT Training

NAICS

Computer Training (61142), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Information Technology & Software (EDAAAPAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Homeless, Foster Care & Highly Mobile Youth Education Services (EDAJAEAG), College & Career Transition Services (Bridge Programs, Dual Enrollment Pathways) (EDAAABAK), Intensive Bootcamps & Accelerated ASE Programs (EDAAABAH)

Keywords

• Charitable education services
• IT training programs
• Digital skills training
• Youth workforce development
• Vocational IT education

Headquarters

HQ city

Kyiv

HQ country

Ukraine

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: GoFriends operates as a non-profit charitable organization funded entirely by donations. They accept contributions in UAH, EUR, USD, Bitcoin, BNB, and Ethereum. Monthly support costs are 115$/person or 300$/family.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

GoFriends IT Academy is a Ukrainian charitable non-profit that provides free IT and digital profession education to orphans and children from difficult life situations. It delivers a three-stage program — Masterclasses, a 10-day IT Camp, and a 4–8 month IT Academy — covering nine IT/Digital professions and concluding with internship and job placement in Ukrainian IT companies. Full residential support (housing, meals, stipend) is provided to orphans during training.

Product overview

GoFriends IT Academy is a charitable organization offering a three-tier educational ecosystem for orphaned children and children in difficult life situations: Masterclasses (introductory 1-day sessions), IT Camp (10-day selection camp with startup development), and IT Academy (4-8 month intensive training program). The curriculum covers 9 IT/Digital professions including Front-end development, Back-end development, Web-design, SMM/Marketing, IT Recruiting, and Project Management, with provisions for accommodation, meals, and stipend during training, concluding with internship and employment placement support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IT Academy Primary full-time training program covering 9 IT/Digital professions (Front-end, Back-end, Web-design, SMM/Marketing, IT Recruiting, Video Production, Project Management) over 4–8 months, with English language training, soft skills development, internship, and job placement support. Available free of charge to orphaned children and children from difficult life situations, with full residential support (housing, meals, stipend) for orphans.
• IT Camp A 10-day residential selection camp where participants develop and promote personal startup projects in business or social spheres, attend 15 master classes from top speakers, and are evaluated on responsibility, hard work, and diligence for admission into the IT Academy. Serves as the second stage of selection.
• Masterclasses Offline/online introductory classes covering the fundamentals of IT/Digital professions, including tests in English, memory, and logic, used to identify suitable candidates for admission into the IT Camp and IT Academy. Functions as the first entry point into the GoFriends educational pipeline.

Quantifiable outcome

• 380 students trained at GoFriends IT Academy
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Brainstack_coreOthersGoFriends graduates were successfully placed at Brainstack_ as Motion designer and help desk specialists. The interview process included 3 stages with a test assignment that graduates completed excellently, demonstrating the effectiveness of GoFriends training program in preparing job-ready IT professionals.
• Ukrainian President's Commissioner for Children's Rights (Mykola Kuleba)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial support from the President's Commissioner for Children's Rights adds credibility and governmental backing to the GoFriends IT Academy project, helping legitimize the charity and facilitate broader outreach to vulnerable children.
• National Children's Council of UkrainecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with National Children's Council supports the project's mission to help orphans and vulnerable children access quality IT education and career opportunities.
• Child Protection Center 'Our Children'coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with 'Our Children' protection center enables identification and referral of children in need to the GoFriends IT Academy program.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Hack Club: Nonprofit network of high-school coding clubs worldwide; comparable in cultivating teen software skills and community-led tech identity, though delivered through a club model rather than residential training.
• Kode With Klossy: Nonprofit providing free coding camps and career programs to young women and gender-marginalized youth; comparable free-coding-training-for-underrepresented-youth mission though narrower demographic focus.

Direct peers

• Marcy Lab School: Tuition-free software engineering program for young adults from low-income backgrounds in Brooklyn; comparable in combining free tuition, mentorship, and job-ready training for underrepresented youth.
• The Knowledge House: Nonprofit tech-education and career-pipeline provider for underserved youth in underserved US communities; similar focus on at-risk young adults, free tuition, and digital/IT job placement.
• Per Scholas: US nonprofit providing tuition-free IT training and career support to individuals from underserved communities; comparable as a charity-funded tech-skills-to-employment pipeline targeting economically disadvantaged learners.
• Generation: Global nonprofit offering free, employer-aligned technical and digital career training to people facing barriers to employment, with explicit job-placement support — the closest analog to GoFriends' tuition-free IT training plus placement model for underserved youth.
• re:Coded: Nonprofit coding bootcamp originally built for Syrian refugees and expanded to displaced/underserved youth globally; closely comparable to GoFriends' mission of using IT training as a pathway out of displacement and exclusion.
• NPower: Nonprofit that delivers free IT and professional skills training plus job placement to veterans and underserved young adults; comparable target population, free tuition, and employer partnership model.

Broad incumbents

• Code.org: Large nonprofit advancing computer science education broadly; comparable advocacy-and-training mission in tech access for underrepresented learners, but operates at scale as advocacy/curriculum rather than direct job placement.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6lkolV-9gu5cK_x8MMzHhA/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/GoFriendsItAcademyKiev
• Instagraminstagram.com/gofriends_it_academy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gofriends

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Go Friends