{{short description|American technology recruitment company}} {{Infobox company | name = Andela Inc | logo = Andela logo.png | logo_size = 230px | logo_alt = | logo_caption = Official logo | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | trade_name = Andela | former_name = | type = Private | founded = {{start date and age|May 21, 2014}} | num_locations_year = | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = Carrol Chang <small>(CEO)</small><ref name="Forbes">{{cite web |last1=Konrad |first1=Alex |title=Talent Startup Andela, Once Valued At $1.5 Billion, Taps Uber Exec As CEO |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2024/08/22/talent-startup-andela-taps-uber-exec-as-ceo/ |website=Forbes |language=en |date=August 22, 2024}}</ref> Jeremy Johnson <small>(Co-Founder & Former CEO)</small> | services = Programming, Freelance, Marketplace, Recruitment, Programmer, Technologist, Product Manager, Designer | num_employees = 308 (August 2024)<ref name="Forbes"/> | website = [https://andela.com/ Andela.com] | caption = | genre = Global Talent Marketplace | location_city = Remote<ref name="Quartz">{{cite web |last1=Kazeem |first1=Yomi |title=Andela is expanding across Africa after shutting down its offices and going remote |url=https://qz.com/africa/1873379/andela-shuts-offices-expands-across-africa-by-going-remote |website=Quartz |date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> | location_country = }} '''Andela''' is a private marketplace for technical talent.<ref name="Africa">{{cite web |title=Andela Celebrates A Decade Of Impact |url=https://www.africa.com/andela-celebrates-a-decade-of-impact/ |website=Africa.com |date=May 28, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Carrol Chang Appointed CEO of Andela, Succeeds Co-Founder Jeremy Johnson |url=https://www.techafricanews.com/2024/08/23/carrol-chang-appointed-ceo-of-andela-succeeds-co-founder-jeremy-johnson/ |website=TechAfrica News |date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> Andela focuses on sustainable careers, connecting technologists with long-term engagements,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-22|title=An African Freelance Leader Going Global|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonyounger/2021/09/29/andela-an-african-freelance-leader-going-global/|access-date=2022-03-01|website=forbes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> access to international roles, and competitive compensation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-07|title=Andela, a tech training and development outsourcer for African|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/10/andela-a-tech-training-and-development-outsourcer-for-african-coders-raises-40m/|access-date=2017-10-10|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
Andela allows companies to access technical talent in approximately 135 countries who are skilled in application development, artificial intelligence, data engineering, cloud, and DevOps. It sources, screens, and onboards the talent, handling the entirety of the hiring lifecycle. Andela uses AI/ML in its platform to match applicants with available roles.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Total Economic Impact Of Andela |url=https://tei.forrester.com/go/andela/talentCloud/index.html?lang=en-us |website=Forrester |access-date=23 October 2024}}</ref> == History == Andela was founded in 2014 by Jeremy Johnson, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Nadayar Enegesi, Brice Nkengsa, Ian Carnevale, and Christina Sass.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-08-15|title=Former Mississauga News intern's company gets $24 million|url=https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/6779552-former-mississauga-news-intern-s-company-gets-24-million-boost-from-facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg/|access-date=2019-01-09|website=mississauga.com|language=en-US}}</ref> In May 2014, Andela launched their first recruitment cycle in Lagos by putting their first call for applications on Twitter. The company hired their first cohort—four Nigerian software engineers—after receiving 700 applications for 4 spots.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-06-25|title=Backed By Spark Capital, Andela Will Develop A Continent Of Tech Talent|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/backed-by-spark-capital-andela-will-develop-a-continent-of-tech-talent/|access-date=2019-01-09|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
Between 2015 and 2017 Andela had Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey come to visit their campuses in Lagos and Nairobi.<ref>{{cite web |title=Live From MarketSite - Andela |url=https://vimeo.com/956538371/6b6c1748ef |website=Nasdaq |language=en |date=June 1, 2024}}</ref>
In 2018, Andela celebrated the first two sets of engineers to complete the four-year program.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-11-25|title=Andela’s first set of developers complete Fellowship programme|url=https://nairametrics.com/2018/09/25/andela-celebrates-first-ever-set-of-developers-since-establishment/|access-date=2018-11-25|website=nairametrics.com|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2019, Christina Sass stepped down from her full-time role as President and transitioned into a supporting role as the Chair of the Andela Advisory Council and the Andela Alumni Group.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-15|title=Andela Co-Founder Christina Sass Steps Down As President|url=https://technext.ng/2019/07/15/andela-co-founder-christina-sass-steps-down-as-president-to-assume-new-roles/|access-date=2019-09-07|website=technext.ng|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-15|title=Chad restores access to social media after blocking it|url=https://techcabal.com/2019/07/15/techcabal-daily-820-chad-restores-access-to-social-media-after-blocking-it-for-more-than-a-year/|access-date=2019-09-07|website=techcabal.com|language=en-US}}</ref> While the initial route for engineers to join the company was via the Andela Fellowship, a four-year program geared towards junior engineers,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-23|title=Connecting African software developers with top tech companies|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/23/connecting-african-software-developers-with-top-tech-companies-nets-andela-100-million/|access-date=2019-09-07|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref> this changed in 2019. Andela widened its hiring criteria for mid and senior-level engineers in Lagos, Nairobi, and Kampala.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2019-05-23|title=Andela opens its doors to senior and mid-level developers|url=https://www.pulse.ng/bi/tech/andela-opens-its-doors-to-senior-and-mid-level-developers-as-it-launches-its-power-of/qzhfzdl|access-date=2019-09-07|newspaper=Pulse Nigeria|language=en-US}}</ref> After their first remote expansions to Ghana and Egypt, the entire organization went fully remote in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-01|title=Andela, which builds engineering teams tapping African talent|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/01/andela-which-builds-remote-engineering-teams-tapping-african-talent-goes-fully-remote-and-opens-to-the-wider-continent/|access-date=2020-01-01|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-01|title=Andela is expanding across Africa after shutting down its offices and going remote|url=https://qz.com/africa/1873379/andela-shuts-offices-expands-across-africa-by-going-remote/|access-date=2020-07-01|website=qz.com|language=en-US}}</ref> As of 2021, Andela provided technologists from six continents the ability to access opportunities with global companies on long-term embedded contracts. Andela’s applicants could undertake training in software languages such as Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, React Native, Node, PHP,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-07|title=Love at first code: Self-taught developer thrives at Andela Nairobi|url=https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2019/02/love-at-first-code-self-taught-developer-thrives-at-andela-nairobi/|access-date=2022-03-01|website=capitalfm.co.ke|language=en-US}}</ref> and more.
In March of 2023, Andela purchased Qualified, an assessment platform that verified engineers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ashiru |first1=Grace |title=Andela Bridges the Gap of technical Talent Assessment with Qualified |url=https://www.techinafrica.com/andela-bridges-the-gap-of-technical-talent-assessment-with-qualified |website=Tech In Africa |date=March 23, 2023}}</ref> Andela purchased Casana, a network of IT talent based in Munich, in May of 2023. Through the acquisition of Casana, Andela increased its presence in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oyewole |first1=Olawale Moses |title=Casana, a Munich-Based Network of IT Talent, Now Owned by Andela |url=https://businessworld.africa/casana-a-munich-based-network-of-it-talent-now-owned-by-andela |date=May 17, 2023}}</ref>
At present, Andela is a two-sided marketplace with clients including Mastercard Foundry, GitHub, Goldman Sachs, Nebula.io, Kinship, Mindshare and ViacomCBS on the employer side, and a pool of over 150,000 digital talent on the contractor talent side. About 60% of those contractors are in Africa and Latin America, but Andela spans 135+ countries overall.<ref name="Alex">{{cite web |last1=Konrad |first1=Alex |title=Talent Startup Andela, Once Valued At $1.5 Billion, Taps Uber Exec As CEO |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2024/08/22/talent-startup-andela-taps-uber-exec-as-ceo/ |website=Forbes |language=en |date=August 22, 2024}}</ref>
On August 22, 2024, Carrol Chang, a longtime Uber executive who led its global driver and courier operations, was appointed as Andela's new chief executive officer.<ref name="Alex"/>
== Business model == Andela operates as a two-sided marketplace. They identify and recruit technologists from around 135 countries (with a 60% concentration in digital talent in emerging markets, such as Africa and Latin America), and place them in remote contract roles with companies. As companies are able to hire persons from where they are residing, the effects of brain drain are mitigated. Andela provides individual contractors for clients to incorporate into their blended teams, full formed teams the client can then manage, or fully managed teams.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Younger |first1=Jon |title=Andela: An African Freelance Leader Going Global |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonyounger/2021/04/22/andela-an-african-freelance-leader-going-global/ |website=Forbes |language=en |date=April 22, 2021}}</ref>
Andela vets the technical talent before accepting them into its private on Andela Marketplace. The vetting is done through a series of online assessments. Technical assessments are conducted through Qualified by Andela, a developer assessment platform. Soft skills assessment are conducted to understand how prospective employees will engage with their future teammates and to better understand their preferences around work. Lastly, a broader leadership assessment test is used in the match process with regard to candidates and their prospective employers. Andela uses all of this data, combined with what they know about the company and hiring manager, to create a "match fitness score" to predict the probability that a given candidate will be successful in a specific role.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick |last2=Brown |first2=Michael |title=From The Front Lines: Jeremy Johnson (Andela) |url=https://bowerycap.com/blog/insights/from-the-front-lines-andela-jeremy-johnson |website=Bowery Capital |date=November 29, 2023}}</ref>
Through its Andela Learning Community, Andela has partnered with numerous global technology companies to provide training programs and scholarships to technologists in Africa. Partners include Google, Microsoft, Pluralsight, among others. Members of the Andela Learning Community have either earned basic skills in software design and development, or advanced applications like React Native, Google Cloud, Android, and other mobile web services. This community enables engineers to access additional learning resources and information, connect with mentors, source career opportunities and interact with fellow learners.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kanali |first1=Nixon |title=Andela Learning Community Surpasses 100K Learners |url=https://africabusinesscommunities.com/tech/tech-news/andela-learning-community-surpasses-100k-learners/ |website=Africa Business Communities |date=August 23, 2021}}</ref> From 2014 to 2024, Andela trained around 110,000 technologists in Africa through the Andela Learning Community. Thus, 15% of Africa's base of around 716,000 engineers were educated through Andela.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Okamgba |first1=Justice |title=Nigeria’s tech talent pool grew 791% in four years |url=https://punchng.com/nigerias-tech-talent-pool-grew-791-in-four-years-andela/ |newspaper=The Punch|date=May 26, 2024}}</ref>
== Funding == On June 25, 2015, Andela secured $10 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the investment and many of the Seed investors participated.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-06-25|title=Backed By Spark Capital, Andela Will Develop A Continent Of Tech talent|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/backed-by-spark-capital-andela-will-develop-a-continent-of-tech-talent/|access-date=2019-01-11|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The following year, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative—founded and owned by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan—led in Andela’s $24 million Series B round of funding,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-06-16|title=Andela Raises $24 Million From Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2016/06/16/andela-raises-24-million-from-zuckerberg-chan-initiative-and-gv/|access-date=2019-01-11|website=forbes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> making it the first lead investment ever for the foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-06-16|title=Mark Zuckerberg backs startup looking to 'close the opportunity gap' in Africa|url=https://mashable.com/2016/06/16/chan-zuckerberg-initiative/|access-date=2019-01-11|website=mashable.com|language=en-US}}</ref> In October 2017, Andela secured $40 million in Series C funding, bringing the total the company had raised to $80 million.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-10|title=Start-Up Bets on Tech Talent Pipeline From Africa|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/business/andela-start-up-coding-africa.html|access-date=2019-01-11|website=nytimes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The investment, led by CRE Venture Capital—a South African-based venture firm—is one of the largest investments to be led by an African venture firm into an African company.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-12|title=African startup founders can finally start looking for big-ticket funding nearer home|url=https://qz.com/africa/1099774/andela-40-million-series-c-local-founders-can-look-to-raise-more-funding-from-african-vcs/|access-date=2019-01-11|website=qz.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-10|title=African Venture Capital Firm Leads $40M Series C Investment In Andela|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2017/10/10/african-venture-capital-firm-leads-40m-series-c-investment-in-andela/|access-date=2019-01-11|website=forbes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> In January 2019, Generation Investment Management, a sustainable investment management firm, led Andela's $100M Series D round of funding, bringing Andela’s total venture funding to $180M.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-23|title=Connecting African software developers with top tech companies|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/23/connecting-african-software-developers-with-top-tech-companies-nets-andela-100-million/|access-date=2019-01-29|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-23|title=African tech start-up Andela raises $100m|url=https://www.ft.com/content/dbe61434-1e41-11e9-b126-46fc3ad87c65|access-date=2019-01-29|website=ft.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The Series D also included Serena Williams’ investment platform, Serena Ventures.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-19|title=Serena Williams' venture fund backed African startup Andela|url=https://qz.com/africa/1599942/serena-williams-serena-ventures-backs-andela/|access-date=2019-06-18|website=qz.com|language=en-US}}</ref> On September 29, 2021, Andela announced $200M Investment led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 with participation from new investor Whale Rock and existing investors including Generation Investment Management, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Spark Capital.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-29|title=SoftBank sinks $200M into Andela, propels company into unicorn territory|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/29/daily-crunch-andela-reaches-1-5b-valuation-after-softbank-leads-200m-series-e/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=techcrunch.com|language=en-US}}</ref> Lydia Jett, founding partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, joined Andela’s Board of Directors. The Series E financing valued the company at $1.5 billion, making it the first unicorn talent marketplace. Andela is one of the seven unicorn companies founded in Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=African Unicorn: How Many in Africa Today? |url=https://todayafrica.co/african-unicorn/ |website=Today Africa |date=January 12, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Andela Celebrates a Decade of Impact |url=https://www.appsafrica.com/andela-celebrates-a-decade-of-impact/ |website=AppsAfrica |date=May 24, 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://andela.com/}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andela}} Category:Coding schools Category:Privately held companies based in New York City