Andela secures $40 million in new round of venture funding

Andela, a company that helps companies build high-performing engineering teams by investing in Africa’s most talented software developers, has secured $40 million in a new round of venture funding, thereby lifting its total funding to date to a total of $80 million.



According to emerging reports, a few new investors are joining its existing investors and they include Salesforce Ventures, TLcom, DBL, and Amplo. This means that Omobola Johnson, former ICT Minister of Nigeria and Partner at TLcom, Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia (and first female Prime Minister of Australia…), and Nancy Pfund, Managing Director of DBL, will be joining our board as well.

According to New York Times report, this announcement will be made next week Tuesday. Apparently this funding is from its financial backers, showing an endorsement of its good work so far.

Many investors have found the company’s model and mission appealing hence their endorsement. Investors include Spark Capital, Omidyar Network, Learn Capital, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative among others. Last year, the Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan’s social issues-minded fund invested $24 million in Andela, to  enable the startup train more engineers in Africa to get tech jobs.

During a tour of Africa last year, Mr. Zuckerberg visited Andela’s Lagos office and told the employees, “You are all part of something that’s really important.”

The founding team of of six — three Africans, two Americans and a Canadian — and an initial test class of four students has now grown to employ 800 people, and it expects to double that number in the next year.