Iyinoluwa Aboyeji helped build Andela, Flutterwave and Moove, three of Africa’s best-known start-ups. His newest company makes a bet that runs against much of the current talk about artificial intelligence.
Talent Nation said that it had raised a pre-seed round co-led by Enza Capital and LocalGlobe, two venture firms based in London. It did not disclose the amount. Future Africa, Kaleo Ventures, Ajim Capital, Solving.org and Accelerate Africa also invested.
The company plans to train, certify and place more than one million AI engineers from Africa with businesses around the world over the next decade.
A Bet Against the Job-Loss Narrative
Much of the public debate about AI focuses on the jobs it could eliminate. Talent Nation argues the opposite. Its founders say AI will need more engineers, and that much of that talent lives in places the industry has ignored.
The reasoning is practical. AI models now write large amounts of code. Someone still has to review that code, test it and connect it to systems that work reliably. The company says the hard part is no longer writing software. It is turning AI into tools businesses can actually use.
“Talent is the final constraint to super intelligence,” said Mr. Aboyeji, who is the company’s executive chairman.
Who Is Behind It
Mr. Aboyeji is a Nigerian entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded Talent Nation with Kesiah Valkin, a South African-born lawyer who serves as chief executive. Ms. Valkin previously co-founded 01 Founders, a London company that worked with clients such as Peloton and Faculty.ai.
Enza Capital was co-founded by Sir John Lazar, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering. LocalGlobe is the seed fund from Phoenix Court, co-founded by Saul Klein.
Sir John said the founders could find talented engineers and build paths for them into well-paid work “not just in Lagos but in London.”
Already Operating at Scale
The company is not starting from zero. Its training academy, Learn2Earn, has been running for 18 months.
In that time, it has:
- Received more than 63,000 applications
- Assessed more than 32,000 people
- Grown to about 1,400 fellows
- Opened nine campuses in six cities
Fewer than 3 percent of applicants get in. Fewer still pass the final certification.
Its engineers already work with clients including IHS Towers, the Nasdaq-listed telecom infrastructure company recently acquired by MTN.
How Selection Works
Applicants start with an online test they can take on a phone. Those who pass attend weekly, in-person trials at the company’s centers in Nigeria. Assessors test technical skill, problem-solving and critical thinking.
Candidates are then sorted by ability. Experienced engineers who meet the standard go straight to client work. Others enter training programs lasting three, six or 12 months. Internships and real projects are part of the process.
Training is peer-led and hands-on. Fellows work on practical projects and take part in intensive “buildathons” across the company’s campuses.
No Upfront Fees
Talent Nation does not charge trainees upfront. Instead, it relies on what it calls a commercial flywheel.
Businesses pay for the engineers they hire. That revenue funds training for new cohorts. Once employed, engineers contribute toward the cost of training those who follow.
The model resembles income-sharing approaches used by coding schools elsewhere. It also echoes Andela, which Mr. Aboyeji co-founded in 2014 to train African developers for global companies.
“AI for the Rest of Us”
The company’s pitch to employers is cost. Engineers who can deploy AI are among the most expensive hires anywhere. Big labs and consulting firms compete for the same small group.
Talent Nation says it can offer certified engineers for a fraction of that price. Its goal is to let more businesses build their own AI systems instead of depending on costly outside providers. Its slogan is “AI for the rest of us.”
“Technological breakthroughs alone will not deliver widespread adoption,” Ms. Valkin said. Adoption, she said, requires a change in the cost and availability of engineering talent.
The Challenge Ahead
The goal is large. Reaching one million engineers in ten years means producing about 100,000 a year. Today the academy has about 1,400 fellows.
Placement is another test. Earlier talent platforms have struggled as global tech hiring slowed and remote work rules tightened. Talent Nation will need steady demand from foreign employers to keep its funding model running.
For now, the company has investors, a working academy and paying clients. Whether it can grow fast enough to match its ambition is the open question.
