Somo

K-12 leaners from low-income communities and refugee camps still learn science only in books, without any practical skills to help them realize their full potential and actively participate in the development of their communities. This has contributed to the growing digital gap in Kenya and across Africa. We believe that every child deserves an education that meets all of their needs so they can grow smatter, stronger, kinder and well prepared for the future of work. This is why we created Somo to offer learners the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) topics through interactive activities, allowing them to experiment, collaborate, ask questions & experience challenges that interest them and their communities.

Somo is promoting access to quality education, reducing inequalities and promoting active citizenship by providing tailored instruction to the learning level of the student, rather than their age. The program is designed to provide flexibility and functionality for classroom environments, refugee camps and students out of school. Our curriculum promotes inquiry-based learning which allows students to work collaboratively through sharing data and ideas. This promotes innovation and creativity in learners and empowers them to develop competency based skills and improve their performance and participation in school, camps and communities.

Our solution is targeting students age 5 to 18 years. We have designed a unique curriculum which enables out of school, after school and classroom learners to not only acquire competency based skill and collaborate and have fun, but also develop critical problem solving skills through coding, robotics, animations, 3D printing and virtual reality, to help them realize their potential and turn ideas into projects which provided solutions to common challenges in their communities.

We have a dedicated team of 25 personnel, which includes 19 STEM educators,  1 human resource personnel, 2 customers relation personnel, 1 finance and operations personnel and  an executive director. The team brings unique and diverse skill-set which is required to ensure that we focus more on serving our clients and community.

Solve is a leading community of social entrepreneurs and innovators, and we believe it will offer us the following unique opportunities. First and foremost, We believe we will gain access to a network with lifetime benefits including mentorship, funding resources, and legal support. Secondly,  we will learn from best practices, benchmark our ideas and build synergies and opportunities that will transform our organization and community. Thirdly, we will be able to establish a new network of business investors, mentors and innovators. Last but not least, we will have a unique opportunity to learn, share and make meaningful collaborations with the Solve community and co-create solutions to world’s sustainability challenges.

The market size of the EdTech sector is estimated at USD 88.82 billion as at the year 2021 and is projected to rise to USD 319.65 billion by the year 2029. We are targeting young people between the age of 5 to 18 years, and anticipate to serve at least 50000 beneficiaries per year from next year.

We have partnered with community organizations, county governments and private schools association in Kenya to facilitate access to schools. Our strategy is to work with private schools and non-governmental organizations to gives us access to many students who can subscribe to our membership plans. In addition, we use social media and fliers to create visibility for our programs.

We have been in operation since October 2021, and we consider our self as a start-up. We have worked hard to identify and sign agreement with group of school, school associations and non-governmental organizations. We have a growing list of private schools which has expressed interest in our work. This is because our programs offer unique and innovative ways of nurturing young tech talents.

Over the next two years, we are planning to continued building capacity for our business and establish our program in at least 100 more schools and communities in Kenya and East Africa. We are also planning to establish an online platform to offer virtual programs. This will enable us to build a customer base of at least 50,000 paying members per year, to increase our profit margin. And thus, enable us to nurture and build a community of passionate tech talents to bridge the digital skills gap and promote active citizenship. In addition, we will be able to provide meaningful employment opportunities for youth, to enable them grow wealth and fully participate in a digitized economy.