The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Marc Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s philanthropic organisation, just made its first major investment. The have gone where most silicon valley venture capitalists have shied away from, African start-ups.
The charitable foundation, launched in December 2015 is leading a $24 million investment round in Andela, a startup that trains software developers in Africa and places them in client companies across the globe. Spark Capital, GV, Omidyar Network, and Learn Capital have also invested in the African company.
In under two years of operating, Andela has trained just under 200 engineers, accepting them from a pool of 40,000 applicants and giving them six months of intensive training before sending them to spend two weeks at technology partners. After that, the Andela developers sign on to those companies full-time, working out of Andela campuses it operates in Lagos and Nairobi
“The goal is to cultivate a next generation of founders and CTOs of great companies across Africa,” says CEO Jeremy Johnson, who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2012 for a previous startup, 2U and cofounded Andela with Iyin Aboyeji, who remains based in Nigeria since 2014. The company’s long-term goal is to expand across the continent and train 100,000 developers in the next 10 years.
All Credits: NAIJAVIRAL
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