Samasource launches in The Hague
FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Press release by West Holland Foreign Investment Agency:
A premier social enterprise providing data services opens first European office
The Hague, 17 February – Samasource was pleased to officially launch their European operations during the opening of the Samasource office in The Hague today. Samasource has partnered with ImpactCity to raise awareness of The Hague as a hub for innovative businesses dedicated to creating positive social impact.
The official opening featured a panel discussion on impact sourcing and the rise of the social enterprise. Speakers included: Leila Janah (Co-Founder and CEO of Samasource), Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (Special Envoy StartupDelta), Vice Mayor Karsten Klein (Economic Affairs, Harbours, Welfare and Health), and Harro Stokman (Director Product Management at Qualcomm).
“ImpactCity, the City of The Hague and the WestHolland Foreign Investment Agency have played an integral role in the launch of Samasource’s European operations. As an international community of social innovators, the City of The Hague was a natural choice for the location of Samasource’s first European office. The European market is ripe for tapping into the impact sourcing model, with few players in the field, but lots of potential”, says Asia Hendrick, European Sales Manager of Samasource.
About Samasource
Established in 2008, Samasource is a non-profit business that connects marginalized women and youth to dignified work via the Internet.
They move people out of poverty by providing work that pays a sustainable, living wage in places with high rates of unemployment, including slums and rural communities in East Africa, South Asia, and the Americas. To date, Samasource has helped over 30,000 lift themselves out of poverty by sourcing data projects from some of the world’s largest companies, including Google, Glassdoor, and Microsoft.
Last year, Samasource’s operating costs started being covered by their earned revenue. This important landmark of becoming a profitable social enterprise, outstanding for a small 8-year old nonprofit, has allowed them to expand their Nairobi delivery center by growing their capacity to 1,200 workers and positioning themselves as the largest Business Process Outsourcer in East Africa, and to launch a new center in Mumbai this fall.
