Decagon, a Nigerian startup that helps leading companies build faster with vetted remote software engineering talents, has raised a $1.5 million funding from Kepple Africa and Timon Capital.
Some angel investors like Paul Kokoricha, managing partner of the private equity business of ACA, and Tokyo-based UNITED Inc., also took part.
The startup also got a $25 million student loan financing facility from the Nigerian financial institution, Sterling Bank.
The investment will be deployed to edtech, fintech and the future of work sectors. Also, some of the funds will go into increasing the number of females in its cohorts from the current 25% to 50% in the next three years.
Founded in 2018 by Chika Nwobi, Decagon is transforming high-potential individuals into the exceptional tech talent that companies need to scale. Its merit-based training program, which only recruits the top 0.5% of tech talent in Africa, produces world-class software engineers for companies globally.
The startup runs a six-month software engineering programme after which well deserved candidates are selected. Software engineers are expected to pay about $4,000 tuition to get in.
Meanwhile students who can’t afford the tuition fee are entitled to $6,000 student loan with a 3-year repayment plan. The student loan financing facility is in partnership with Nigerian-based Sterling Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The facility also allows Decagon to offer a Pay-After-Learning plan that provides the trainees with laptops, accommodation, internet, meal allowance and a stipend.
In a statement, Chris Muscarella, partner at Timon said: “We’re thrilled to work with Decagon to build up the top 0.5% of vetted engineering talent in Africa and help connect them to global tech opportunities.
“The frequency of engineering leaders from US and European companies in our network ask about sourcing African and Nigerian technical talent has increased at a rapid clip, and we’re excited to lean into that and help Decagon on their mission.”
Speaking on the student loan, Obinna Ukachukwu, the divisional head of Sterling Bank said, “We got involved to support alternative education by providing loans for Nigerian students complemented with financial literacy training. Based on the excellent performance of the current portfolio, it made sense to scale our support to Decagon.”
