BREAKING: Andela Raises $40M In Series C Round
In July of 2014, Andela put out a call for aspiring software developers in Nigeria. Through Twitter alone, we received 700 applicants, interviewed a few dozen, and accepted six to join Andela’s first cohort in Lagos.
That month, we also met Pule Taukobong. A few weeks later, as head of the Africa Angels Network, he became Andela’s first institutional investor from the continent.
Three years later, Andela has grown to nearly 800 people across four countries. We’ve received more than 70,000 applicants and accepted the top 0.7% — around 500 developers to date — and more than 100 of the world’s leading tech companies depend on Andela developers from Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.
As Andela has grown, Pule has grown from one of the most beloved early stage investors on the continent to one of the most active and significant. In 2015, Pule launched CRE Venture Capital with his partner, Pardon Makumbe. Two years later, CRE is a force to be reckoned with, counting over 30 investments across 8 countries.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce Andela’s Series C, a $40M investment led by CRE, and welcome Pule to our board. The New York Times broke the news this morning in a feature about Andela, “Start-Up Bets on Tech Talent Pipeline From Africa.”
The round represents a major milestone for Andela and, more importantly, it’s a testament to the growth of the African tech ecosystem. Arguably the largest venture round ever led by an African VC into an Africa-based business, this is just the beginning of African venture funds leading rounds of this caliber. We’re thrilled to welcome Pule to our board where he joins partners from top global venture funds like Spark Capital and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
In addition, we’re thrilled to welcome Salesforce Ventures, TLcom, DBL, and Amplo to the Andela family of investors. With them, Omobola Johnson, former ICT Minister of Nigeria and Partner at TLcom, Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Amplo Board Partner, and Nancy Pfund, Managing Director of DBL, will be joining our board as well.
When we first started Andela, even those who loved and believed in us thought it was a bit crazy. But with every partnership, we’re proving to the world that brilliance is evenly distributed and has nothing to do with nationality or gender. Soon, the demographic challenges that many associates with Africa will instead become an advantage. Increasingly, African technologists will be leading companies solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges and, simultaneously, reversing age-old misconceptions about talent and potential.
Many people talk about changing the world. We now have both the infrastructure and resources to do exactly that, and we’re just getting started.
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