Univelcity is a tech academy designed to accelerate the growth of technology talent in Africa by offering courses in Design, Technology, and Engineering.
Univelcity adopts project-based learning techniques to deliver the complex subject matter in a much simpler way.
Over the last five years, they have trained over a thousand young Nigerians who now work around the world with reputable companies such as Google, Sterling Bank and a lot more.
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Speaking about the earlier challenges of Univelcity at its inception, the CEO, Joseph Agunbiade had this to say, “We started with the objective to increase tech talent poll however how initial model was to train with the hope that when we place them employers are going to pay us but we failed woefully with that model. So we basically switched to a paid where students come in and pay us upfront.
“So we started building sustainability and in the long run, we discovered that more than 75 percent of those who applied couldn’t afford the programs so we had to start making plans around how to make it affordable. So we partnered with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to set up a student loan and I cofounded Skill Up Africa that’s now providing a means of financing people and this has been helpful.
“Those were our initial challenges but we have been able to scale over it. Another challenge was to see how those who go through our programme get placed but today with those we have a partnership with and those who have heard about us are now relying on our talents.”
One thing special about their model of operation is their instructor-led training which has helped smoothening learning and giving more richness to absolving the knowledge passed.
The company has also seen a rapid employment growth with options in IT that has helped youths and professionals secure better work placements and assured a viable means of livelihood.
Attesting to their quality of service, Agunbiade added that, “We are very empathetic and our model is such that it is project-based as we understand the people coming to us.
“Having an instructor-led training has brought up a level of confidence to our students. We also have a student mentor relationship where they have direct access to their instructors and school directors beyond the classroom on a one on one basis and get their questions answered.”
