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It was 2014 when six visionary founders – Jeremy Johnson, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Nadayar Enegesi, Brice Nkengsa, Ian Carnevale, and Christina Sass – came together to launch a bold venture called Andela. Amidst the backdrop of a contentious election in Nigeria and an Ebola outbreak across West Africa, they planted the seeds for a global revolution in tech talent.
The name “Andela” was inspired by Nelson Mandela, the iconic leader who devoted his life to dismantling apartheid and systemic racism. Just as Mandela expanded his vision from a local struggle to a global movement for equality, Andela’s mission is to break down barriers and create borderless opportunities for brilliance to thrive, regardless of where in the world they live.
Over the past decade, Andela has emerged as a pioneering force, propelling the rise of tech ecosystems in overlooked regions like Africa and Latin America. What started with a single hub in Lagos, Nigeria has blossomed into a global, remote-first talent marketplace spanning over 135 countries.
This growth was fueled by an unwavering belief in human potential and the recognition that brilliance is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. From improbable beginnings, Andela attracted support from some notable investors like Carmelo Anthony, Steve Case, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Softbank, Google Ventures, Serena Ventures, and Generation Investment Management. The support of our investors enabled us to achieve unicorn status in 2021, an accomplishment we don’t take lightly.
Our mission increasingly resonates as the acceleration of digital transformation widens the global tech skills gap. With one-third of skills for tech roles changing in just the last five years, 76% of leaders are left facing talent shortages1. And, generative AI has triggered an insatiable demand that legacy hiring models just can’t meet. Andela’s adaptive hiring model has emerged as a future-proof solution. Through a rigorously qualified global marketplace of skilled technologists, we empower businesses to rapidly scale world-class teams on demand to meet their evolving needs.
A key component of the adaptive hiring approach is unlocking the immense tech talent across Africa and Latin America – regions that have traditionally been overlooked and underutilized by the global tech industry. Almost 60% of our qualified tech talent pool is sourced from these largely untapped markets, helping to level the playing field.
“Building a great company is fundamentally an exercise in hiring great people. At Andela, I have been unbelievably blessed to work with extraordinary humans on this now decade-long journey,” shares Jeremy Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO at Andela. “Bringing people together and fostering a sense of community in our marketplace has been part of our secret sauce. As we look to the future, Andela will continue to show why we are the most trusted tech talent marketplace for enterprises. Our customers will continue to experience the world as a hiring pool, and technology will continue to enable us to extend that reach.”
As we enter our second decade, Andela is doubling down on the future of borderless work embraced by 58% of companies2. By viewing the world as your hiring pool, you gain access to cost-efficient tech expertise, diversity of thought, and up to 70% faster hiring than traditional recruiting.
"As enterprises seek digital talent in emerging technology like AI, we want Andela to be their go to partner,” says Jeremy Johnson, Andela’s co-founder and CEO. “Our adaptive hiring model allows them to realize that vision, making it easier for them to quickly scale their tech talent up or down based on their business needs."
We know we’ve just begun to truly unlock human potential at scale. Our next chapter will see Andela training more world-class technologists, improving our AI-powered platform to accelerate this mission, and driving transformative impact with our partners from climate tech to healthcare and beyond.
On this 10-year milestone, we extend our sincere gratitude to the customers, investors, partners, employees and all the extraordinary technologists who have propelled this dream. Your passion and belief in a brighter future for all inspired us. Here’s to decades more of connecting brilliance with opportunity, so everyone wins!
