Change Inc.: from umbrella seller in Yemen to social entrepreneur in the Netherlands

Dutch sustainability platform Change Inc. profiled Taaly founder Shadi Alhakimi in its Future Leadership series: how a boy who sold umbrellas in Yemen became a social entrepreneur with an app for 5,000 language learners.

From asylum procedure to company

Journalist Fleur Kortenoever describes an asylum procedure that took two years instead of six weeks, and how Shadi filled that time with volunteer work, seven days a week. In 2016 he was named volunteer of the year in Nijmegen. At 23 he had already founded his first IT company in Yemen.

Language buddies, and AI as co-pilot

Taaly had around 5,000 learners and 450 language buddies at the time, with the goal of helping 10,000 newcomers within two to three years. The article also outlines the financial route: from donations to paying employers and municipalities, aiming to be independent of grants within five to six years. AI would become a co-pilot in the conversation, never a replacement for the human buddy.

That is how it went: the AI language coach in Taaly helps between sessions, and the real conversations with taalcoaches remain the heart of the platform.

“Social entrepreneurship is tough. Getting funding is hard and takes a lot of time and energy.”
Shadi Alhakimi in Change Inc. (translated from Dutch)

Taaly today

Taaly has since grown into the digital integration assistant for newcomers: language, participation and work in one app, with more than 30,000 learners, 4,200 taalcoaches and partnerships with 18 municipalities.

Read the full article

From umbrella seller in Yemen to social entrepreneur in the Netherlands. Change Inc., by Fleur Kortenoever (19 August 2024).

See how Taaly combines the AI language coach with real taalcoaches. Taaly for newcomers