Andela, a US-headquartered start-up that helps companies build high-performing engineering teams by investing in Africa's most talented software developers, has announced that it has secured US$40 million in Series C funding.

The company says the investment was led by pan-African venture firm CRE Venture Capital with participation from DBL Partners, Amplo, Salesforce Ventures, and Africa-focused TLcom Capital.

Andela, which was launched in 2014 to combat the global technical talent shortage, has offices in Lagos, Nigeria, Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.

The company says to date it has hired 500 developers who have worked with global industry leaders like Viacom and Mastercard Labs to high-growth technology companies such as Gusto and GitHub in building distributed engineering teams.

According to a report by techweez, existing investors including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV and Spark Capital also participated. "The round, which marks one of the largest investments ever led by an African venture firm into an Africa-based company, brings Andela's total venture funding to just over $80M," notes the report.

Andela says it will use the capital to fuel its expansion plans. The company aims to launch offices in two additional African countries over the next year, doubling its developer base from 500 to 1 000 to meet growing demand.

The company has also announced that Pule Taukobong of CRE, Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister and Amplo Board Partner, and Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom and former Minister of Communication Technology in Nigeria, will be joining Andela's board.

Techweez quoted Andela Kenya's Country Director, Joshua Mwaniki as saying, "In the two years since we launched Andela Kenya, we've already become home to three hundred brilliant engineers who are redefining the meaning of leadership on the continent and building a reputation for technological excellence. When we look back at the key drivers that turned Kenya and Africa into economic giants, Andela will be remembered not as a footnote in the story, but as a major catalyst."

Pule Taukobong, a founding partner of CRE Venture Capital, added, "At present, there is more capital to fund ideas globally than there are people to build them. Andela is providing a solution to this global talent dilemma while building a business case for one of Africa's greatest assets: our people."

According to the New York Times, Andela believes Africa has plenty of smart people, but that they too often lack the preparation for and pathways to gainful jobs, "the missing ingredients that Andela can provide in the field of software development."

"Not only does Andela instruct people in person, but 20,000 aspiring programmers across Africa have used its free online learning and training tools. By 2024, Andela hopes to have helped prepare 100,000 software developers in Africa for jobs, including thousands working for Andela," reported the New York Times.