Andela has been named among the most innovative companies in Africa by Fast Company. Each year, Fast Company recognizes enterprises that tap both heartstrings and purse strings and use the engine of commerce to make a difference in the world. Andela was recognized for its efforts in nurturing fast-class coders in the continent.
Most of these coders have ended up working in the biggest companies in the world as well as high-growth startups around the world.
Recruiting from headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya, Andela has received over 50,000 applications from developers and has so far accepted 260. The applicants are taken through six months intensive training before being given a two-week placement at different technology partners. Once, they finish the placement, the Andela developers then sign on to those companies full time.
In 2016 alone, Andela placed over 100 developers with more than 60 partner companies. In the same year, it also recruited all-female classes in Lagos and Nairobi, and women now make up 23% of Andela’s developers in the two countries combined.
Being named among the most innovative companies in Africa should come as really good news for Andela. The company has already announced plans to launch in a third African country before the end of the year as it seeks to expand its operations across the continent.
In 2016, Andela raised $24 million in a Series B round led by GoogleVentures and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the social investment fund started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscila Chan. The new investment according to Andela represented an international seal of approval from the most respected and innovative minds in the global tech ecosystem and confirmation of the caliber of technical talent in the two countries it operates in.
Andela says its goal is to train 100,000 elite developers in the next 10 years.
Featured Image: Group of Andela Developers Left to Right: Chris Ganga, John Kariuki, Penina Wanjiru and Suada Haji in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo Credit: Robert Opiyo
