Somo
Empowering Entrepreneurs with Training, Digital Tools and Resources
Fast Facts
Kenya and Tanzania
Tom Phillips
2020, 2022-23, 2024, 2025
Job Training
How Somo Is Making a Difference
Somo’s underlying tenet – ‘we all have lessons to learn from each other’ – informs its mission as a business accelerator that supports social entrepreneurs in breaking the cycle of poverty and transforming low-income communities.
Somo invests in those who have community-changing ideas but lack access to the resources that can help them realize their ambitions. It provides training, business advising, funding, and assistance with market access. Somo’s work is integrated within the communities it serves and supported by established, long-term relationships that build more stability.
Work of Somo
- Identifies potential entrepreneurs from marginalized communities and empowers them with the tools and support needed to successfully build businesses, establish sources of income and improve their living standards.
- Provides a shared production facility for use by Somo entrepreneurs.
- Assists entrepreneurs in marketing their products and provides physical spaces for products to be sold.
- Uses current technology on basic-feature phones to teach, mentor, and provide financial systems that promote data capture and financial reporting.
- Gathers continuous feedback on Somo programs and tools, reaching large populations with a database tracking system.
Initiatives Supported by Project Redwood
2020: $30,000 to help finance two initiatives: Tengeneza na Somo, a new shared production facility that will reduce upfront investment for the food and hygiene businesses founded by Somo entrepreneurs, and MyDuka, an SMS-based (texting) financial records system that captures transaction data and generates financial reporting.
2022-23: $30,000 to help Somo scale its work based on DigiSomo, its digital training platform; DigiKua, its USSD and WhatsApp-based financial reporting tool; and Somo Academy, its individualized training and mentorship program.
2024: $45,000 Impact Grant to support program planning for scaling operations into new geographic areas while assuring sustainability for Somo’s existing entrepreneurs, and fundraising and development, to seek sources of future funding and determine if partners would be willing to pay for Somo’s digital tools.
2025: $30,000 Impact Grant to support strategic planning in preparation for expansion in East Africa, equipping partner organizations with Somo’s proven tools, advisory experience, culture and values, and resources. The grant will support team capacity building, “train the trainer” programming, quarterly strategy meetings, strategic fundraising, and increased visibility at networking events.