Nayadar Enegesi is a rising star in the tech industry. As the co-founder and former director of learning development at Andela, he always pushes himself to learn new things.
Andela is a social enterprise that helps talented engineers from Africa access the best opportunities in the global tech industry. At Andela, Nayadar worked with clients from all over the world on various projects. In his profile of black excellence, we look at Nayadar’s work at Andela and his journey as a black founder.
Early Life and Education
Nayadar was born in Nigeria and grew up in a small town called Ile-Ife. He attended Waterloo University in Canada for his undergraduate degree in Computer Science. It was there that he discovered his passion for coding. After graduation, Nayadar worked as a Software Engineer for a few years before founding Andela in 2014.
Nayadar Enegesi graduated from the University of Waterloo and completed a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) degree. He is passionate about using technology to improve people’s lives in his community and worldwide. The University of Waterloo President’s Scholarship is awarded to a student who has demonstrated academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement. Nayadar Enegesi was a recipient of the scholarship for 2008.
Through his work with Andela, Nayadar has had the opportunity to work on a number of projects that have positively impacted the lives of people in the community. He has also worked on projects that aim to improve access to education and employment opportunities for developers in developing countries.
Enegesi is passionate about education and empowering young people from underrepresented groups to reach their full potential.
Andela
Andela is a global talent accelerator, developing world-class engineers in Africa and connecting them with opportunities at leading technology companies.
Andela has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, and CNN.
Andela was founded in 2014 with the mission to accelerate the development of technical talent in Africa. Andela’s model identifies talented individuals early in their careers, provides them with intensive training and mentorship, and then places them at top companies as full-time, permanent members of engineering teams.
“Anyone can start a company to scout talent and connect them to global opportunities. [But] no one else can build Andela. Why? Because Andela’s team is the secret sauce.
Our team is a diverse blend of nationalities, personalities, professional expertise, and mental models. This has led to a collaborative environment, where knowledge sharing is the norm, and everyone is organically motivated to level up on a daily basis.”
Andela was backed by investors such as Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Spark Capital, Creation Venture, Rothenberg Ventures, and Omidyar Network.
“You probably wouldn’t have thought in the next million years that the tech leaders building your products will come from Africa,” says Enegesi. “But now we’re showing the world that that’s possible.”
Nayadar Enegesi is also the co-founder and director of Launchpad, a social enterprise that Andela operates in East Africa.
As Andela’s first country lead in Nigeria played an instrumental role in setting up the company’s operations there. He built strong relationships with local partners and government officials, which helped Andela secure its first batch of students for its fellowship program.
He also recruited and managed a team of talented professionals who supported Andela’s fellows throughout their fellowship journey. Under Nayadar’s leadership, Andela achieved impressive results. All Fellows who completed the program were placed with top companies in the country, and 100% were still employed after.
“I was familiar with the conventional wisdom (about entrepreneurship) but never internalized or paid attention to it. For example, I wish I knew that deciding to be an entrepreneur meant deciding to be estranged from family and friends if not managed. If I knew, I would have [prepared] them better.”
Current Works
Nadayar Enegesi is the CEO and Co-Founder at Eden Life. Nadayar Enegesi has had two past jobs, including Co-founder & Director, at Launchpad at Andela.
He has made two notable investments, one with Afropolitan and the other with Klas, where he is the lead investor. Afropolitan raised $2,100,000 / Pre Seed from Enegesi and twenty-six other investors.
Nayadar Enegesi is a shining example of what black excellence looks like. As a Black Founder, he constantly strives to improve his skills and grow as a developer. He is also passionate about giving back to her community.
Nayadar Enegesi is part of our Black Founders50 Series. Download the complete 2023 BBVA Founders50 list here.