Propel, a Lagos- and Berlin-based start-up that wants to build sustainable talent pipelines for communities and help global companies derisk the process of hiring remote talent from emerging markets, particularly in Africa, has secured €2.5 million in seed investment, reports TechCrunch.

The round was led by Amsterdam-based No Such Ventures, with participation from APX (an accelerator by Axel Springer Digital Ventures and Porsche Digital), Golden Egg Check and Future of Learning Fund. The start-up, founded in 2020 by Sunkanmi Ola, Seun Owolabi and Abel Agoi, intends to use the investment to drive the roll-out and adoption of its community-as-a-service platform and drive €1 million in revenue generated for communities by Q4 next year.

A year into placing local tech talent in retail and automotive companies like Porsche and Mercedes, Propel noticed that these workers were connected to a community such as developer groups, talent incubators and training schools, slightly changing the start-up’s focus. Hence, its community-centred approach. Propel provides a pipeline for talent in these tech communities, connecting them with a network of companies driven by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mandates and specific job roles that need to be filled.

In exchange for providing last-mile infrastructure, Propel plugs into the diverse pools of talent within these tech communities spanning multiple skill sets from software development to design, data science to no-code and other digital transformation skills. Propel makes revenue from hiring and placement fees and rebates.