Nigeria’s Andela Achieves $1.5-Billion Valuation in Latest Series E Round

Andela, a global engineering talent outsourcing company launched in Nigeria in 2014 has secured a $200-million investment during a Series E funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the venture capital arm of Japanese mega-corp SoftBank.

This latest funding round brings Andela’s total valuation to $1.5-billion, officially making it Africa’s fifth unicorn startup.

According to TechCabal, Andela began as an African-focused software developer training and outsourcing company. The firm soon grew to become a top source for talented, well-rounded developers in Africa thanks to the company’s developer training methodology and curriculum.

The company received a comfortable $24-million injection from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg in 2016. Last year, Andela went completely remote, closing its offices in Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. The company’s rationale at the time was to increase the number of Africans who could apply to work for the company as software devs – Andela has a notoriously strict application process. The company’s developer program is even more difficult to get into than Harvard.

“Andela has always been the high-quality option for those building remote engineering teams. Now that the world has come to embrace remote work, Andela has become the obvious choice for companies because we can find better talent, faster,” said Jeremy Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Andela.

“If you are a talented engineer, Andela opens up a world of possibilities for you, no matter where you are based.”

Today, Andela maintains a network of engineers from over 80 countries across six continents. The company has placed engineers in leading tech firms like GitHub, CloudFlare and ViacomCBS.

“Hiring remote technical talent is one of the top challenges that companies face today. We believe Andela will become the preferred talent partner for the world’s best companies as remote and hybrid work arrangements become the norm,” said Lydia Jett, Founding Partner at SoftBank Investment Adviser and now a member of Andela’s Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to support Jeremy and the Andela team in their mission to connect these companies with brilliant engineers, and in the process, unlock human potential at scale.”