Andela, the Nigeria-founded company which provides global firms with access to top tech talent from Africa, has received US $24 million in funding from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Mark and Chan Zuckerberg’s community development or CSI arm.
Andela identifies high-potential developers on the African continent, shapes them into world-class technical leaders and then pair them with companies as full-time, distributed team members.
(TOP: Andela developers at work. Photo: Andela blog).
While announcing the development via a blog to the firm’s exiting investors and advisors, Jeremy Johnson, Andela co-founder and CEO, stated that the investment “marks the first time that Mark and Priscilla have led a round,” adding that Andela is “thrilled to welcome them, as well as GV (formerly Google Ventures), to the Andela family.”
“This morning, I am both honored and excited to announce that Andela has closed our Series B and is Mark and Priscilla’s first lead investment through CZI. For additional context, I wanted to share a note that I sent this morning to our investors and advisors,” stated Johnson.
Below is the full text of the note to investors and advisors:
Dear Investors and Advisors,
Some exciting news to start your morning: Today, Andela is publicly announcing our Series B, a $24M round led by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. This marks the first time that Mark and Priscilla have led a round and we’re thrilled to welcome them, as well as GV (formerly Google Ventures), to the Andela family.
The round represents a huge vote of confidence from some of the most respected names in technology. Not only is it a vote for Andela, but it’s also a recognition of the caliber of software developers and human beings that make up the Andela Fellowship. We’re humbled to partner with folks who helped drive some of the most impactful innovation in the history of tech, and we’re grateful to have the financial support to continue building the movement that is Andela.
In the past two years, Andela has evolved from a crazy idea into an elite engineering organization of nearly 300 people spanning three continents. Today, Andela developers are building products for Google, Facebook and IBM, as well as dozens of fast-growing venture-backed startups. In their spare time, they’re driving the growth of local and global tech ecosystems: Building apps that trend on Github, forming organizations to empower the next generation of female developers, and speaking at tech events across the continent.
I just went back to review the article that Christine Magee, then a reporter at TechCrunch and now our head of PR, wrote about us for the Series A, and the growth is very real. Total applicants have more than doubled from 15,000 to over 40,000, we’ve launched a second country, Kenya, as well as a second US office (San Francisco just last month!) and the global team has more than doubled.
To our existing investors and advisors, ultimately what I am saying is thank you. Your support and early faith has been a critical part of this journey — we wouldn’t be where we are without you.
To our new investors: Welcome – you’re in for an adventure. We look forward to all of your insights and guidance as we work together to build the next generation of world-class technical leaders.
CZI and GV now join other organisations which have already offered funding to Andela, including Spark Capital. Omidyar Network, Founder Collective, Learn Capital, Melo7Tech, Rothenburg Ventures, SparkLabs Global Ventures, Peak Ventures, Summit, CRE Capital and Susa Ventures among others.
Andela aims to bridge the existing skills gap, considering that there are 5 job openings for every software developer in the US. It works to by connecting top employers to the brightest individuals from and in Africa, thereby providing a bridge to close the talent gap while investing in the smartest, most creative minds in software development.
Some of the firms that engaged Andela-trained people include Microsoft, IBM, 2U, UDACITY, Payoff, Flightcar, Everplans, YEC and 6Sense.
Andela was founded by Nigerian Iyinoluwa Aboyeji in June 2014 as a global talent accelerator that produces world-class developers and connects them with top employers. In July same year, Aboyeji was joined by Jeremy Johnson – now the CEO – on the same project.
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