About
Why Coder:LevelUp?
Coding is a super-power. Coder:LevelUp is helping fellow Africans learn to use this super-power. This will increase the earnings potential, ability to innovate and ultimate success of individuals and society.
How we do it?
Find and run scalable programs for the growth and development of coders (and potential coders) throughout their lifetime from before “Hello, world!” to retired guru, from age seven to a hundred and seventy.
We try out (or develop) patterns for creative learning environments in small groups then see if and how these scale in the South African context.
What we do?
CoderLevelUp has been growing the coding community in Africa since 2012. What started as coding clubs for young people has grown into a broad ecosystem - from beginner learners picking up their first Pico kit, to competitive robotics teams heading to world championships, to planetary science researchers inspiring the next generation of explorers, to professional developers sharpening their craft.
“the loop of joy: having an idea, struggling and then… it works! That’s the engine of creative learning, once this gets going we can’t stop the learning.”
- :David Campey
We help grow coders and our coding community to be part of the change that sees 500,000 coders working in the Western Cape and beyond, supporting the national goal of 1 million coders in South Africa.
For Young Coders
Code Club: Free volunteer-led coding clubs for young people aged 9–13, aligned to the DBE Coding & Robotics curriculum. CoderLevelUp has helped start over 400 clubs across the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. Part of a global network supported by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Coolest Projects: The world’s leading technology showcase for young people, run in South Africa since 2020. Now in its sixth year, with events in Cape Town, East London, and Durban. Any young person up to 18 can enter - from any coding background.
Pico Pathway Kit: Our hardware starter kit, available from PiShop.co.za for R199.90. Six projects, one kit, built around the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Introduction to Pico pathway. The bridge from screen coding to physical computing.
Robotics
FIRST / FTC: We support the FIRST robotics community in South Africa through IGNITE Robotics International. The First Tech Challenge is for teams aged 12–18, developing real skills in Java, CAD, 3D printing, and robotics engineering - including 2024 World Champions Texpand from Cape Town.
Science & Exploration
SAPIENT: The South African Planetary Institute for Exploring Nature with Technology. Co-founded with Dr. Matthew Huber (Planetary Science Institute / UKZN), SAPIENT uses planetary science to inspire learners and communities. Website: sapient.rocks
Mars Yard: A simulated Martian landscape in Cape Town where learners run code on real rovers. The original Mars Yard Lab is generously hosted by Parklands College; the Cape Town Science Centre’s Space Room exhibit is also live. UCT students (sponsored by impact.com) are building a cloud platform so any school can run rover code remotely.
Ocean Robotics
LoCO AUV: A community building a low-cost open-source autonomous underwater vehicle. Monthly build events at Ocean Hub and Menzi Lab, open to all. Learning pathway runs from Scratch to ROS. Communities build robots and robots build communities.
For Professional Developers
CodeRetreat: Day-long deliberate practice events for developers. Pair programming, new partners, no pressure to ship. Cape Town chapter since 2012, including the 48-hour Global Day of CodeRetreat.
devdev: A working group under IITPSA developing professional developers in South Africa - making it easier to employ and be employed in the software profession.
Lean Startup Coffee: A weekly agendaless, speakerless meetup for people working in startups. 4,900+ members, 536+ events since 2015. Every Wednesday morning, online.
History
- 2012 First CoderDojo @ Afrolabs
- 2012 First CodeRetreat @ Afrolabs
- 2015 First Lean Startup Coffee @ Grind for Truth
- 2018 Incorporated as LevelUp NPC (2018/401659/08)
- 2019 CoderDojo Growth Partnership with Raspberry Pi Foundation
- 2020 IITPSA MOU - devdev working group formalised
- 2020 First Coolest Projects South Africa
- 2023 Raspberry Pi Foundation funded programme to grow Code Clubs in the Western Cape
- 2024 World Champion: Texpand (FTC) from Cape Town
- 2024 Growth into Eastern Cape with ECDoE
- 2024 CoderDojo and Code Club brands merged globally
- 2025 SAPIENT.rocks Mars Yard at Cape Town Science Centre launched
- 2025 LoCO AUV build community active at Ocean Hub
- …2048 BHAG: Community of 500k coders in the Western Cape, 1M in South Africa
Incorporation
LevelUp NPC, 2018/401659/08, incorporated in July 2018. Section 18A PBO: 930067991
Directors: Roger Norton, Camilla Swart & :David Campey. Previous Directors: Georgia Goedhals, Natalie Milne.
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