Andela, a company that helps companies build high-performing engineering teams by investing in Africa’s most talented software developers, was launched in 2014 to combat the global technical talent shortage. The company has offices in Lagos, Nigeria, Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda and has hired 500 developers, to date, who have worked with global industry leaders like Viacom and Mastercard Labs to high-growth technology companies such as Gusto and GitHub in building distributed engineering teams.
Andela has announced that they have secured $40M in Series C funding. The investment was led by pan-African venture firm CRE Venture Capital with participation from DBL Partners, Amplo, Salesforce Ventures, and Africa-focused TLcom Capital. Existing investors including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV and Spark Capital also participated. The round, which marks one of the largest investments ever led by an African venture firm into an Africa-based company, brings Andela’s total venture funding to just over $80M.
Andela will use the capital to fuel its expansion plans. The company aims to launch offices in two additional African countries over the next year, doubling its developer base from 500 to 1,000 to meet growing demand. Alongside this round, Pule Taukobong of CRE, Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister and Amplo Board Partner, and Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom and former Minister of Communication Technology in Nigeria, will be joining Andela’s board.
Commenting on the funding, Joshua Mwaniki, Country Director of Andela Kenya said, “In the two years since we launched Andela Kenya, we’ve already become home to three hundred brilliant engineers who are redefining the meaning of leadership on the continent and building a reputation for technological excellence. When we look back at the key drivers that turned Kenya and Africa into economic giants, Andela will be remembered not as a footnote in the story, but as a major catalyst.”
Pule Taukobong, Founding Partner of CRE Venture Capital, added, “At present, there is more capital to fund ideas globally than there are people to build them. Andela is providing a solution to this global talent dilemma while building a business case for one of Africa’s greatest assets: our people.”
