Andela rakes in $40 million to connect tech companies with more African engineers

Andela got some major attention just over a year ago, when the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative led a $24 million investment in the startup that connects African tech talent with top companies.

Now, Andela's secured a second major investment. The startup raised $40 million in a Series C round led by the pan-African venture firm CRE Venture Capital. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative—Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's philanthropic organization—and Salesforce Ventures, DBL Partners, Spark Capital, and Africa-focused TLcom Capital also participated.

"Over the past three years, we've helped prove to the world that brilliance is evenly distributed. It's now time to prove that our model of investing in extraordinary people isn't just viable, but revolutionary," Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson said in a statement. "Increasingly, African technologists will be launching high-impact companies and solving some of the world's most pressing problems, and this round will help that happen faster."

With this $40 million, Andela plans to launch two new offices in yet-to-be-specified African countries to join its offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria. Andela is also aiming to double its pool of developers from 500 to 1,000. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology Ombola Johnson will join Andela's board.

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

Check out Mashable's interview with Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson on the future of his organization and online education.