Decagon
Decagon is a Lagos-headquartered, US-incorporated talent staffing firm that recruits, trains, and places top-decile African software engineers with enterprise clients worldwide via an annual Fellowship subscription and 2-year engineer contracts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLagos, Nigeria
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Decagon does
Decagon (legally Decagon Services Inc, operating as DecagonHQ) is a private talent staffing and training company founded in 2018 and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with operating bases in Austin, Texas and Berlin, Germany. The company's core business is the Fellowship Program, an annual subscription service in which enterprise and mid-market clients hire pre-vetted remote software engineers sourced and trained through Decagon's own Software Engineering Training Institute, which the company ranks as #1 in Africa. Engineers go through a 2-month unpaid internship at the client and then commit to a 2-year contract, during which they are paid 250,000 Naira (net) in Year 1 and 300,000 Naira (net) in Year 2 by the client via Decagon's payroll, with a N1,500,000 financial penalty for early exit without valid grounds. Subscription pricing is tiered: Tier 1 allows up to 4 engineer hires per year and Tier 2 allows up to 10, with both priced as annual subscriptions and supported by Decagon-led performance management.
Decagon's go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting medium-to-large companies with engineering managers, with named client evidence spanning African banks and fintechs (Carbon, Access Bank, Union Bank, Sterling Bank, RenMoney, Opay), consumer goods (Nestle), payments (Mastercard), and US-based engagements for Fortune 500 brands (Merck, Nike, Budweiser, Nokia) routed through Vertex. The company also runs content marketing through a corporate blog and organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram), and reports referral/word-of-mouth as an acquisition source. In March 2026 Decagon launched a new product line, the NIL Platform (nil.decagonhq.com), enabling individuals to monetize their name, image, and likeness—an extension outside engineering staffing.
Financially, Decagon is a privately held company that has disclosed approximately $26.6 million in cumulative funding, dominated by a $25 million August 2021 round from the Central Bank of Nigeria and Sterling Bank alongside earlier seed capital from Kepple Africa Ventures, MEST, Timon Capital, UNITED, and a 2022 follow-on from Ardent Capital and Kaleo Ventures. No revenue, ARR, or valuation figures are disclosed. Leadership is anchored by founder and CEO Chika Nwobi (also a Unilever board member and partner at Rise Capital) with board members Laurens Kreuze (KPMG Netherlands partner), Emilly Liggett (ex-McKinsey, Stanford MBA, former NASDAQ-listed CEO), and Jody Ike (Thunderbird MBA, Global Innovation & Marketing). Headcount is reported at 251-500 employees.
Decagon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Decagon
- Legal name
- Decagon Services Inc
- Website
- https://decagonhq.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Decagon is a Lagos-headquartered, US-incorporated talent staffing firm that recruits, trains, and places top-decile African software engineers with enterprise clients worldwide via an annual Fellowship subscription and 2-year engineer contracts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Decagon industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engineering Talent Staffing
- NAICS
- Computer Training (61142), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Custom Corporate IT Training & Upskilling Programs (BPAEANAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Technical Bootcamps & Accelerated Reskilling (Full-time/Part-time) (BPAEANAE)
Keywords
Where Decagon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lagos
- HQ country
- Nigeria
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices3 records
Markets served
Decagon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Annual Subscription - Fellowship Program: Companies pay annual subscription fees to access the Decagon Fellowship Program, which allows them to hire vetted software engineers who commit to 2-year contracts. Subscription tiers determine the number of engineers hireable per year. The company also facilitates payment processing for engineer salaries (250,000 Naira Year 1, 300,000 Naira Year 2).
- Talent Placement and Management: Revenue generated through placement of trained engineers with client companies, with ongoing talent management and performance evaluation services included in the subscription.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 1 Plan - Ideal for small and medium teams |
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 2 Plan - Ideal for large teams and enterprise organizations |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Decagon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Decagon provides companies with vetted remote software engineers through its Decagon Fellowship Program, in which engineers recruited from the top 0.5% of talent complete a 2-month free internship followed by a 2-year contractual commitment with the client. The offering combines recruiting, training, ongoing HR management, and work infrastructure, with annual subscription tiers (Tier 1: up to 4 engineers/year; Tier 2: up to 10 engineers/year). The company also launched a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) platform for personal brand monetization.
Product overview
Decagon is a talent staffing and training company that operates a unified platform combining recruitment, training, and talent management services. The core offering is the Fellowship Program, which provides access to vetted remote software engineers trained through Decagon's own Software Engineering Training Institute (ranked #1 in Africa). Recently, Decagon expanded its portfolio with the launch of a NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) Platform. The company sources talent from Africa with operating bases in Lagos, Nigeria; Austin, Texas; and Berlin, Germany, and serves clients globally including in Austin, NYC, Berlin, London, and Rome. Engineers are available across multiple technology specializations including React, Node.js, Python, Java, C#, Android, iOS, React Native, and more.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Decagon Fellowship Program: A program that provides companies access to well-trained developers from the top 0.5% of engineering talent, featuring a 2-month free internship followed by a 2-year talent commitment.
- NIL Platform
Products and services
- Decagon Fellowship Program Annual subscription program that gives companies access to vetted remote software engineers from the top 0.5% of engineering talent, with a 2-month free internship followed by a 2-year contractual commitment and dedicated performance management support. Available in two tiers (up to 4 or up to 10 engineers per year), with engineer salaries paid through Decagon at 250,000 Naira Year 1 and 300,000 Naira Year 2.
- Decagon NIL Platform Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) platform that enables individuals (such as athletes) to monetize their personal brand through their name, image, and likeness.
Quantifiable outcome
- Engineers complete code on complex Fortune 500 client projects within their first week
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Decagon
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Decagon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Decagon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Decagon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Upwork: Upwork is the largest global freelance marketplace, including a substantial software-engineering category. It competes with Decagon at the lower end of remote engineering hiring but lacks Decagon's curated-training and long-term-commitment model for enterprise buyers.
- Deel: Deel is a leading global HR and payroll platform for international contractor and employee management. Like Remote, it is an enabling/competing alternative for the cross-border employment layer that Decagon's fellowship program encapsulates.
- Remote: Remote provides global employment, payroll, and contractor management infrastructure used by companies hiring internationally. While not a direct talent-staffing competitor, Remote is an adjacent solution that enterprise buyers evaluating Decagon's offering may consider as an alternative.
Emerging players
- Pesto Tech: Pesto is a tech career accelerator and talent placement company focused on Indian developers, similar in model to Decagon's training-then-placement approach. While geographically distinct, it represents the same talent-arbitrage category targeting engineering teams.
- Hired (LHH): Hired is a tech-recruitment marketplace that matches vetted software engineers with employers. Owned by LHH (Adecco Group), it competes with Decagon for the engineering-talent-placement category, though with a marketplace rather than managed-services model.
Direct peers
- Andela: Andela is the most direct competitor to Decagon: it sources, trains, and places vetted African (and increasingly global) software engineers with enterprise clients on long-term contracts. Both companies target the same Fortune 500 buyer and compete on engineering quality, geographic arbitrage, and talent pipeline depth.
- Toptal: Toptal operates a global marketplace for the top 3% of freelance software engineers, serving enterprise clients with vetted remote talent. While its sourcing is global rather than Africa-focused, it competes with Decagon for the same enterprise buyer seeking pre-vetted remote engineers on multi-month engagements.
- Crossover: Crossover recruits and manages full-time remote software engineers for enterprise teams using a rigorous vetting process. It targets the same enterprise engineering manager buyer as Decagon and competes on remote-talent quality and long-term engagements.
- Turing: Turing provides AI-vetted remote software engineers from a global talent pool to enterprise customers. It competes directly with Decagon in the pre-vetted, long-term remote engineering placement category and offers a similar value proposition of quality, scale, and geographic arbitrage.
Regional players
- Cohora: Cohora was a customer-loyalty platform, but is not directly comparable; omitted. Instead including ALX Africa as a regional talent-training peer with software engineering programs feeding employer pipelines in Africa, comparable to Decagon's training-institute feeder model.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Decagon social profiles
Digital presenceDecagon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Decagon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Decagon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Decagon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Decagon
What does Decagon do?
Decagon provides companies with vetted remote software engineers through its Decagon Fellowship Program, in which engineers recruited from the top 0.5% of talent complete a 2-month free internship followed by a 2-year contractual commitment with the client. The offering combines recruiting, training, ongoing HR management, and work infrastructure, with annual subscription tiers (Tier 1: up to 4 engineers/year; Tier 2: up to 10 engineers/year). The company also launched a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) platform for personal brand monetization.
Is Decagon a public or private company?
Decagon is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Decagon founded?
Decagon was founded in 2018. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Decagon based?
Decagon is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, in the Africa region.
How does Decagon make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Annual Subscription - Fellowship Program is the primary driver. The others are talent Placement and Management.
Who are Decagon's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Upwork, Deel and Remote. Emerging players are Pesto Tech and Hired (LHH). Direct peers are Andela, Toptal, Crossover and Turing. Cohora is listed as a regional player.
Does Decagon have an API?
No public API is recorded for Decagon.
What industry is Decagon in?
Decagon's product category is Engineering Talent Staffing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEANAB, Custom Corporate IT Training & Upskilling Programs, with a secondary code of BPAEANAE, Technical Bootcamps & Accelerated Reskilling (Full-time/Part-time). Its NAICS code is 61142 and its SIC code is 7361.