Co-founder Kathryn Parsons says the idea for Decoded arose during a conversation she had with her co-founder Steve Henry about digital skills in 2011.

By early 2012, Decoded had moved into its own office space and was teaching anyone from FTSE 100 CEOs to startup founders to code. The company’s ambition is to change the way that people see the digital world, making it more accessible.

As well as their London office, they have recently launched an office in New York, run pop-up classes in 15 cities, and have just accepted investment from the Guardian Media Group.

Decoded have delivered courses on coding and data to thousands of professionals worldwide, and are planning to reach even more in the coming year.

Q&A with Kathryn Parsons, co-founder of Decoded

We asked her about her experience and reflections on starting up.

What did you find challenging in building your startup?

When we started there were very few avenues for funding, networking, recruiting tech talent or incubating your ideas. Recruiting talent, I think, is really difficult. But in the last few years there has been a seismic shift in the startup scene with incubators like Wayra recruitment fairs like Silicon Milkroundabout and a buzzing social scene.

Where do you see the role of corporates in supporting startups?

It's great to see big businesses supporting the startup scene through a number of incubators and awards. Barclays and Microsoft recently launched their incubators in Central Working's new space in Mile End. However, there is a lot more room for big business to collaborate and work with small, fast-moving and innovative businesses in the UK.

The majority of programmers are men – what about your participants?

It’s been incredible because it has attracted everyone - it's been an even split of men and women, around 50:50. This is in stark contrast to the national statistics, which paint a worrying picture about women in technology at all levels of their education and career. Women can and should feel empowered to be digital. It's about shifting the ingrained myths and stereotypes that it is not for them.