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Update: Zuckerberg backs Nigeria focused startup

Nigeria , 20 Jun 2016

Update: Zuckerberg backs Nigeria focused startup

A tech training startup Andela, focused on key regions in Africa including Nigeria and Kenya, secured US$24-million investment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative established by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan. The investment will go towards training more engineers in Africa, according to Andela.

A message posted by Zuckerberg stated that his initiative properly aligns with the objective of Andela which is to close the education gap. "Six out of every ten Africans are under the age of 35 - and in some places, more than half of them are out of work," he said.

"Priscilla and I believe in supporting innovative models of learning wherever they are around the world - and what Andela is doing is pretty amazing."

Andela aims to identify and train top tech talent in Africa. After a six-month software development program, Andela Fellows work remotely for Fortune 500 companies and startups around the world.

To date the company has trained 200 engineers.

Andela's co-founder, Jeremy Johnson said the company closed its Series B funding. He explained that in addition to the investment made by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, they also received funding from GV (formerly referred to as Google Ventures).

"The round represents a huge vote of confidence from some of the most respected names in technology. Not only is it a vote for Andela, though, it's also recognition of the caliber of software developers and human beings that make up the Andela Fellowship. We're humbled to partner with folks who have helped drive some of the most impactful innovation in the history of tech, and grateful to have the financial support to continue building the movement that is Andela," Johnson said.

The challenge before Andela is to scale while at the same time sustain the quality of training, manage expansion and provide opportunities to a growing number of beneficiaries without compromising its Fortune 500 promise.

* Upon further investigation, it has transpired that Andela is a US-based startup that is focused on technology businesses and skills development in Nigeria, Kenya and is pursuing further expansion into Africa.

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