Andela secures $40 million in new round of venture funding

Andela has secured $40 million in a new round of Series C funding, thereby lifting its total funding to date to a total of $80 million.

Apparently this funding is from its financial backers, showing an endorsement of its good work so far.The investment was led by pan-African venture firm CRE Venture Capital . It is also reported that a few new investors are joining this round 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.

Andela says it will use the capital to fuel its aggressive 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.

“Over the past three years, we’ve helped prove to the world that brilliance is evenly distributed. It’s now time to prove that our model of investing in extraordinary people isn’t just viable, but revolutionary,” says Jeremy Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Andela. “Increasingly, African technologists will be launching high-impact companies and solving some of the world’s most pressing problems, and this round will help that happen faster.”

Seni Sullyman, Country Manager Andela Nigeria said in a blog post that the Series C funding round was monumental for many reasons.

• First, this round was led by an African investor — CRE Venture Capital — who’s been there with us from day 1;
• Second, and more importantly, it means that our developers are delivering value, day after day.

According to him, “With this investment, Andela will continue to invest in talent, operating out of our hi-tech offices across Africa. We will keep (aggressively) pursuing our dreams and aspirations of Africa as an equal partner in the digital revolution by working alongside more global tech partners. ”

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.