Nigeria’s AltSchool raises $1M pre-seed to build an alternative school for Africans

The demand for software program engineers is predicted to develop by 22% between 2020 and 2030, in keeping with a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This determine is bigger than the 4% common for different careers.

One could be out of contact with actuality to say they haven’t observed this phenomenon in Lagos, Africa’s startup capital metropolis, the place mid to senior-level engineers are leaving in droves to hunt higher pay and alternatives in firms exterior Africa.

Andela has been pivotal to inserting the continent’s tech expertise globally. However for the reason that unicorn modified its enterprise mannequin to a pure market specializing in senior builders, different platforms akin to AltSchool Africa are attempting to fill one of many gaps it left: coaching individuals to develop into junior to mid-level engineers.

The corporate (to not be confused with U.S. AltSchool, which is now Altitude Studying) has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to scale its efforts, mentioned chief government Adewale Yusuf to TechCrunch. He based AltSchool with Akintunde Sultan and Opeyemi Awoyemi final October.

In 2020, Yusuf toyed with the concept of constructing a bodily campus the place he and his crew would prepare software program engineers to get worldwide alternatives. Yusuf met with academic stakeholders at a public college in Ife, a neighbouring city close to Lagos, to tug this off, however the deal by no means materialized.

After that, the crew targeted on scaling sister-company and Techstars-backed TalentQL, launching merchandise akin to Pipeline, which educated mid-level engineers, turning them into senior engineers and inserting them in worldwide firms. Nonetheless, upon additional analysis, Yusuf discovered what wanted to be finished to make his previous concept work: a remote-centric method.

Nigeria has a inhabitants of just about 200 million, with 60% underneath the age of 25. The nation’s unemployment fee is at a staggering 34% and continues to depart many college graduates in its path. Like many Nigerians, Yusuf believes the normal education system is inadequate to get college graduates first rate jobs. 

AltSchool offers an answer as an internet faculty with a curriculum to enhance/upskill non-technical individuals with technical and mushy expertise whereas partnering with larger establishments to supply diploma certificates. The corporate’s mannequin is akin to BloomTech’s (previously Lambda Faculty).

“You may want a BSc if you wish to be a health care provider or nurse and a few of these different expertise. However relating to being a software program engineer or digital expertise, you actually don’t,” mentioned the CEO.

“We have to discover a shortcut for individuals, whereby they are going to have the ability to earn a living and supply for his or her household and add worth to the economic system. That’s one of many causes we launched AltSchool as a result of if lots of people can have marketable expertise, then I believe we are able to clear up an enormous downside out there.”

Members in its program would wish to have a highschool certificates and be pc literate, the corporate specified on its web site. 

When college students apply to this system, they are offered with a house research package in preparation for an evaluation take a look at. These admitted into the varsity, assembly a go mark of 85%, will take a software program engineering course with three tracks: frontend engineering, backend engineering and cloud engineering. It’s a one-year program the place college students take courses for 9 months (three semesters) adopted by a three-month internship at native tech firms to achieve expertise.

AltSchool employs an income-sharing settlement (ISA), so when college students full this system and get employed, they’re anticipated to pay $500, which might be paid in full or installments — $50 over 10 months or $100 over 5 months.

Yusuf mentioned that AltSchool may put off the ISA mannequin for the following batch. As a substitute, the corporate could use a subscription mannequin, the place college students pay between $20-$50 month-to-month at some point of their program.

That mentioned, AltSchool makes provision for many who don’t get admitted into its program. They will entry the platform’s first-semester content material free of charge and follow. In the event that they stick with the top of the three-month curriculum, AltSchool will present avenues for them to finish the complete nine-month program.

“We notice that crucial factor is expertise. We genuinely need to give individuals the talents. And we all know that not everyone that handed the evaluation will make it to the top of college, nor are they higher than those that failed,” he mentioned. “We’ll create a scenario the place if some can stick with the top of this semester, we’ll discover a manner for them to finish the programme.”

In AltSchool’s pipeline are programs on product, blockchain and knowledge. It intends to launch the product modules, together with product administration, advertising and marketing and design, by Q2 this 12 months. The corporate can be exploring B2B partnerships with personal colleges in Nigeria and Africa, utilizing AltSchool’s curriculum of their courses.

To date, greater than 8,000 individuals have utilized (the applying price is ₦10,000, virtually ~$20) to take part in AltSchool’s software program engineering program, which begins in April. These functions got here from 19 international locations (together with 14 African international locations) and Yusuf mentioned the corporate obtained essentially the most entries from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Botswana. 

AltSchool managed to tug in these numbers by way of phrase of mouth whereas garnering some enviable following on social media. Some well-known personalities from tech and music are sponsoring college students by way of this system, whereas others, noticing the startup’s promise, are chopping checks.

They embody Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Flutterwave co-founder and CEO; Shola Akinlade, Paystack co-founder and CEO; Folarin Falana, a Nigerian artist popularly often called Falzthebahdguy; and Akitoye Balogun, a Nigerian artist often called Ajebutter22. The VCs within the spherical embody Voltron Capital, Nestcoin, Pledges and Odba VC.

AltSchool plans to make use of the funding to construct its content material and curriculum, know-how infrastructure and group idea, the place college students will meet offline to community and be taught collectively.