at somos, we're proud to be community-backed! with 23 investors participating in our pre-seed fundraising round, we've built a strong foundation that values equity ownership for the team, teachers, and grassroots community organizations.
together, we're forging a future built on co-ownership and collaboration. 🌟
were put aside at the pre-seed funding stage to allot to our five core community partners (represented 0.5% each as at december 2021). these shares give our partners the same financial and voting rights as the founder and investors have.
will be donated to our five core community partners annually (0.2% each). we've chosen a % of gross merchandising value instead of profits so that our users know that every single purchase from day 1 will result in a donation to our partners.
have been put in an initial option pool for somos employees and teachers. we recognise the importance of long term security and want to give teachers every incentive to make somos the best place to grow their business. find out more.
somos is a for-profit social enterprise and edtech startup. our governing documents require us to take our shareholders, employees and other stakeholders into equal consideration when making decisions.
a unique set up comes with questions! here are some common ones but of course if you have more, please feel free to get in touch 😀
our first community co-owner is the incredible conversation over borders! you can find out more about our partnership here .
in the coming months, we'll be adding other amazing orgs focused on:
🔹 championing language, worker, and migrant rights
🔹 promoting education and lifelong learning
🔹 preserving endangered, minoritized, and indigenous languages
🔹 empowering refugees and migrants in diaspora.
stay tuned for our announcements!
great question! we believe in aligning our long-term future with the communities we serve.
if somos thrives, we want to share that success with the grassroots organizations doing amazing work in language, culture, and people protection. 🤝
traditional csr and diversity and inclusion programs can be pretty top-down. we're all about building with, not just for, the communities we work in.
by giving our partners shares with the same financial and voting rights as our other investors, we're making sure we stay directly accountable to them.
it's about collaboration and shared success! 🌟
nope, somos is actually a for-profit social enterprise! 🚀
while we do aim to make a profit, what sets us apart is our commitment to co-ownership and creating a positive impact on society.
our unique ownership model allocates equity to our team, teachers and grassroots community organizations, making them part of the somos project.
our governing documents require us to consider key stakeholders like employees, partners, and the wider community when making decisions. so, while we're a business, we're all about balancing profit, purpose, and shared ownership! 💡
absolutely! we're always excited to collaborate with organizations that align with our mission, especially those focused on:
1️⃣ teaching or facilitating the learning of endangered, minoritized & indigenous languages
2️⃣ supporting refugees and migrants in diaspora (e.g., offering free local language classes, protecting rights, etc.)
3️⃣ broadening access to digital education
4️⃣ promoting mental health and wellbeing.
if you're a charity or community organization interested in working with us or think our platform could help you, please don't hesitate to get in touch!
we'd love to chat and explore possibilities together. 🌍💫
we're an edtech startup on a mission to help language teachers earn & live well.
if you've taught languages online with platforms like preply, italki, and cambly, we'd love to hear from you!
help us build the teaching platform you want from the ground up. 🌍
Our excellent customer support team is ready to help.
