Andela, a tech startup and remote company that helps or connects African software engineering talent to global opportunities or companies has raised $200 million from investors led by a Japanese tech investor, SoftBank Group Corp.
The seven-year-old, New-York based Andela is currently valued at $1.5 billion, is the latest Nigerian startup to have attained unicorn status (a billion-dollar valuation for a private company) this year, after Flutterwave and OPay.
On Wednesday, Agnes Muthoni, the director of the Andela learning community in a statement said “This new round of funding enables Andela to strengthen our already extensive network of incredible talent in Africa and across the world, as we systematically connect the best software engineers with global opportunities.”
The software developer training and outsourcing company raised $100 million in a previous funding series led by Generation Investment Management, an investment firm co-founded by former U.S. vice president Albert Arnold Gore Jr., in January 2019.
Andela’s co-founder and chief executive, Jeremy Johnson said that the capital raised will help the company expand its network to at least 100 countries by the end of the year.
Built from an initial group of software engineers in Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, the company’s footprint encompassed seven countries before the pandemic struck, he said.
Andela has over 300 employees and will use the new capital to add to that workforce, particularly in product, engineering and growth, Johnson said. In addition, the company is investing in growth, continued expansion of technology and product development.
However, Lydia Jett, founding partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers will join Andela’s board, the tech company said in the statement.
