Iyin Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela (a global job placement network for software developers), has revealed that the tech company started with only four individuals in a boys’ quarters.
He made the disclosure during this year’s edition of The Platform, organised by Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to commemorate the 2023 Worker’s Day.
Despite being a Unicorn now, the company was forced to relocate seven times within two years due to financial constraints, according to Aboyeji.
“In 2014, we raised 28 million and that was the year that we started Andela, we were moving. We started in a BQ (boys quarters) on Cameron road, we started with 27 (people), then we whittled down, I think we ended up with four after the selection process.
“Four of us, the Andela that you see everywhere today, four people started it in a BQ. Before that time we were sharing space in CChub. At one point we did not have the resources, we went to Fadeyi, we were in Fadeyi for a while and we kept moving around like that.
“Just so you know this is where we are coming from, when you hear people raised billions of dollars, Unicorn started from corn,” Aboyeji said.
Andela, a global job placement network for software developers, was co-founded in 2014 by Iyin Aboyeji and a few other entrepreneurs.
The company is currently valued at over $1.5bn.
