Andela

About Us

Andela is an American global job placement network for software developers. Andela is an organization that cultivates IT talent in Africa and provides leading global technology companies with access to a high-skilled resource pool.

Andela software engineers participate in a coding boot camp after which they work remotely from Andela’s tech campuses across Africa. IFC is currently supporting Andela as an equity investor.

Andela focuses on sustainable careers, connecting technologists with long-term engagements, access to international roles, competitive compensation, and career coaching through the Andela Learning Community.

Our History

Andela was founded in 2014 by Jeremy Johnson, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Nadayar Enegesi, Brice Nkengsa, Ian Carnevale, and Christina Sass. In May 2014, Andela launched their first recruitment cycle in Lagos by putting their first call for applications on Twitter. The company hired their first cohort—four Nigerian software engineers—after receiving 700 applications for 4 spots.

In 2018, Andela celebrated the first two sets of engineers to complete the four-year program.
In 2019, Christina Sass stepped down from her full-time role as President. She transitioned into a supporting role as the Chair of the Andela Advisory Council and the Andela Alumni Group. Of the six original founders, Jeremy Johnson continues to work at Andela.

While the initial route for engineers to join the company was via the Andela Fellowship, a four-year program geared towards junior engineers, this changed in 2019. Andela widened its hiring criteria for mid and senior-level engineers in Lagos, Nairobi, and Kampala. After their first remote expansions to Ghana and Egypt, the entire organization went fully remote in 2020.

As of 2021, Andela provides technologists from six continents to access opportunities with global companies on long-term embedded contracts. Andela’s applicants can undertake training in software languages such as Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, React Native, Node, PHP, and more.

Our Vision

We envision a world of work liberated by ingenuity, powered by knowledge, and elevated by belief; a place where everyone is committed to illuminating for one another what’s possible and connecting brilliance with opportunity for all.

Our Mission

Andela’s core mission is to bridge the global tech talent gap by identifying, nurturing, and connecting exceptional software engineers from Africa with leading technology companies worldwide.
Their primary objective is to foster a diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem, empowering individuals to unlock their full potential and contribute to the global technology landscape.

Through their comprehensive training programs and strong partnerships, Andela aims to create a thriving community of skilled professionals, driving innovation and transforming the future of work.

Our Funding

On June 25, 2015, Andela secured $10 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the investment and many of the Seed investors participated.
The following year, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative—founded and owned by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan—led in Andela’s $24 million Series B round of funding, making it the first lead investment ever for the foundation.

In October 2017, Andela secured $40 million in Series C funding, bringing the total the company had raised to $80 million. The investment, led by CRE Venture Capital—a South African-based venture firm—is one of the largest investments to be led by an African venture firm into an African company.

In January 2019, Generation Investment Management, a sustainable investment management firm, led Andela’s $100M Series D round of funding, bringing Andela’s total venture funding to $180M. The Series D also included Serena Williams’ investment platform, Serena Ventures.

On September 29, 2021, Andela announced $200M Investment led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 with participation from new investor Whale Rock and existing investors including Generation Investment Management, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Spark Capital. Lydia Jett, founding partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, joined Andela’s Board of Directors. The Series E financing valued the global engineering network at $1.5 billion.

Our Core Values

We are creating an institution that will make a lasting difference in the world, long after we are gone. To achieve that, we must embody our E.P.I.C. values and let them direct our actions; they are;

• Excellence
• Passion
• Integrity
• Collaboration.

Our Services

Andela is a global talent marketplace where tech, fintech, and startup companies can build remote teams by hiring skilled engineers, product managers, and designers. They have a team of 450 employees from more than 30 countries, all working remotely.

Andela offers a 4-year paid Technical Leadership Program in Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya. The program covers Ruby / Ruby on Rails, Python / Django, PHP / Laravel, MEAN Stack, and Mobile Development (Android and iOS) and will shape students into elite software developers.

After the program, Andela Fellows can be expected to land jobs at client companies, to help train software engineers at Andela, or to start their own tech companies.

Our Business Model

Andela’s business model is built around four key elements: talent sourcing, client partnerships, project management, and revenue generation. The company sources talented software developers from Africa and trains them in the latest technologies.

This model is designed to sustain itself and drive scalability. Typically based in the United States, employer partners pay Andela to provide vetted, talented, and fully trained software developers. This subsidizes the full cost of the fellowship.