Nigerian Startup Andela Becomes a $1.5 Billion Unicorn
Nigerian Startup Andela Becomes a $1.5 Billion Unicorn
Andela, a startup that connects African software engineering talent to global companies has raised $200 million from investors led by SoftBank Group Corp., a Japanese tech investor.
The seven-year-old, New-York based Andela now valued at $1.5 billion, is the latest Nigerian startup to attain unicorn status -- a billion-dollar valuation for a private company -- this year, after Flutterwave and OPay.
“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”, Agnes Muthoni, director of the Andela Learning Community said in a statement on Wednesday.
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.
The capital raised will help the company expand its network to at least 100 countries by the end of the year from roughly 80, co-founder and chief executive Jeremy Johnson said. 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.
Lydia Jett, founding partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers will join Andela’s board, the tech company said in the statement.
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