From Ventures Africa

Talent accelerator, Andela has marked its official launch with a seed round of funding to train another set of developers in Africa.

The bright developers chosen by the startup for the training will earn up to $500 monthly stipend (over N80,000), while they get trained to become world-class developers ready to satisfy the need of top firms globally, who require quality.

The company, which is dedicated to eliminating the global skills gap recognizes that while aptitude is evenly distributed, opportunity is not.

“With the fastest growing and youngest population in the world, Africa is the largest market of untapped talent. Our goal is to tap into this brilliance to bring the world’s brightest minds to firms looking for quality developers,” said Jeremy Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Andela.

A serial education technology entrepreneur and co-founder of 2U, Johnson said the support currently being enjoyed by several seasoned investors attests to the value Andela is capable of bringing partners, including U.S. and European technology and service companies.

Chris Hughes, owner and publisher of The New Republic and Facebook co-founder, who is also an investor in the seed round, also acknowledged the stress technology firms go through while trying to find the skills they need. “Andela promises to give companies access to previously untapped talent while creating an on-ramp to the digital economy for brilliant young people,” Hughes said.

The company, which has been in private (closed) beta since June, connects world-class developers it produces with top employers globally.

Coders in Nigeria’s commercial and tech hub Lagos were the first to enjoy Andela’s training. 5,200 applicants competed for the first 28 slots (an acceptance rate of 0.53 percent) for Andela’s inaugural class of developers. The first class which was taught by senior developers in Lagos boasts of 100 percent retention rates and were paid $500 monthly stipend during the program.

Read more at Ventures Africa