Who We Are

Soynade Research is an AI startup dedicated to democratizing technology for West African languages. We build open-source AI tools specifically designed for oral languages and offline environments. Our name, "Soynade", is a verb in the Fula language meaning "to see far" or "to look further”.

In many areas, especially in West Africa, the moon is not just a celestial body; it is the original navigator revealing paths in darkness and guiding travelers safely when the sun is down. Soynade embodies this ancient wisdom.

While big tech chases "daylight markets"; the visible, easy-to-reach users, we bring moonlight to the digital divide. We illuminate the landscapes others perceive as shadows. To "Soynade" is to possess a dual power:

• The Sharp Eye (Precision): Like a guide spotting a path in the dark, we have the visual acuity to see the nuances of oral African languages and the specific offline needs of our communities.
• The Long Look (Foresight): We look beyond immediate obstacles. We see past the "barriers" of literacy and connectivity to a glowing horizon where African technology is sovereign, open, and accessible.

The sun lights the known world; the moon reveals the world to come. At Soynade, we see differently.

Our Vision

To see further than the horizon. We envision a digital future where every African language is a first-class citizen of the internet, supported by sovereign, offline-capable, and culturally grounded AI technologies.

Our Mission

We build the infrastructure for African digital sovereignty. Specifically, we develop open-source Large Language Models (LLMs), speech recognition systems, vision-language models, and translation tools tailored for West African languages.

We prioritize:

• Orality: Because our cultures speak before they write.
• Offline Accessibility: Because connectivity should not be a barrier to intelligence.
• Community-Driven Development: Because technology must serve the people, not the other way around.

Community Principles

Our open-source community is guided by three core tenets:

The Moon Shines for All

No one owns the moon; it shines for the shepherd and the king alike.

Our technology is built to be accessible to everyone, from the university researcher in Dakar to the farmer in rural Mali, from the developer in Lagos to the teacher in Ouagadougou.

See Farther Together

We value contributions that extend the reach of our tools, whether through code, data, or feedback. We believe that when we share our "vision," the whole community sees further.

Cultural Dignity

We treat African languages and data with dignity. We reject "data mining" mindsets. We ensure accuracy, context, and cultural relevance in all our datasets and model outputs.