Onja

Onja is a social enterprise training underprivileged youth into world-class software developers. Pronounced Oon-za, Onja means ‘waves’ in the Malagasy language.

We find the brightest students in Madagascar who can’t afford to continue their education, and train them in English language and software development. After just two-and-a-half years they are ready to work as remote front-end software developers in international tech teams.

Once in a job, our developers earn a good salary that helps them support their families and pay forward the opportunity to a new wave of students. They unlock exciting careers that fulfil their potential, and accelerate the development of their nation.

Our first cohort, ‘Wave 1’, consists of nineteen talented and committed graduates who are now working remotely for our partner companies in Europe and the US. With this immensely successful first cohort, and a proven social model, our goal is now to scale our impact: we aim to take on 360 new students over the next four years.

Our fast-growing team is very united, committed to the mission, and hardworking, but we also maintain a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere that you’ll find everywhere in Madagascar.

Onja is located in Toamasina, a lively city with beautiful beaches, nice restaurants, and with plenty to do and see. Toamasina is Madagascar’s second largest city (population 300,000) yet is surrounded by plenty of natural beauty, and even has a national park nearby.

Onja operates as a sustainable social enterprise model where:

1. We search for brilliant minds who would otherwise be limited to low-paid, unfulfilling careers.
2. Students receive two years of English and software development instruction.
3. Graduates earn (and continue learning) at our outsourcing enterprise.
4. All profits are used to train the next wave of students and the cycle begins again.

We are a rapidly scaling social start-up with a mission to nurture talented, underprivileged youth to lead impactful careers in tech, unlock opportunities for others and accelerate Madagascar’s development. Our social model is innovative with exciting potential to scale, so there is a great opportunity for you to grow your career along with us.