Founder Story
Why we built Soma — and why we're doing it in Zimbabwe
We didn't start Soma because edtech was a hot space. We started it because we watched schools drown in paperwork while the solutions designed for them were built for someone else entirely.
Read our story
How St Bernard's Primary went paperless in 5 days
From physical registers to live digital records — how one Harare school made the switch and what we learned from the transition.
Building ZIMSEC grading into Soma Portal
The technical decisions behind supporting ZIMSEC Primary, O-Level, A-Level, and Cambridge IGCSE grade boundaries in one system.
Launching Soma Connect — a parent app built for Zimbabwe
What parents told us they actually need from their child's school, and how that shaped the design of our mobile app.
Why we built Soma on Supabase
How a single Supabase backend powers four different apps, real-time sync, and RLS-based access control across an entire school.
The case for African-built edtech
Why adapting Western platforms for African schools fundamentally doesn't work — and what a truly local alternative looks like.
How we're using AI in Soma — and what we're not doing
AI comment generation, natural language queries, and Gemini integration in Soma X — the practical decisions behind each one.