Sommos

Sommos, formerly known as PasanaQ, provides software that digitizes informal collaborative savings practices and connects them to the formal financial system. The platform is delivered as a white label to banks, financial institutions and businesses; end users access it through their financial provider and use it to save either individually or in groups, following the rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) model known regionally as "tanda" in Mexico or "pasanaku" in Bolivia. As users accumulate a record of savings behavior, that history forms a credit profile institutions can assess when offering loans or other financial products.

The platform is customizable to each institution's requirements and is adapted to the savings traditions and cultural context of users in different regions. One deployment, SommosAgro, is developed by Sommos and operated by the Bolivian financial institution CIDRE IFD: users register with identity and contact details, set up a programmed savings plan aimed at purchasing agricultural inputs and materials, authorize the blocking of the associated savings account until the plan is completed and the automatic transfer of funds to suppliers once it is, and may subsequently be evaluated for financial products. The application includes in-app claim handling, optional device camera or gallery access for uploading payment receipts, and password and data-protection controls aligned with Bolivian ASFI regulation and practices drawn from ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 29100.

Founding story

The concept grew from co-founder and CEO Diego Rojas's observation that financing was openly discussed and widely accessible in the United States, in contrast to Latin America, where many people distrust formal financial institutions and save individually or in groups in ways invisible to banks. The founders built on the ROSCA model, present in 77 countries, to bring these practices into the formal financial ecosystem. Yara Lewensztain Zelaya joined the company when it was still called PasanaQ as an employee and was offered co-founder status three months later; she works alongside Rojas and CTO Jhonny Ventiades.

Business model

Sommos sells its platform as a white-label SaaS to banks, financial institutions and retailers rather than serving end users directly; client institutions deploy the branded application to their own customers, who save individually or in groups and can be assessed for credit and other financial products based on the resulting savings record. The company positions itself as an implementation partner as well as a vendor, running focus groups, interviews and field visits with client institutions to raise adoption.

Traction

As of February 2025 the company reported a team of 18 people, operations in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, and goals to double active clients and expand to at least five countries during the year. Sommos was one of the ten winners of the WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition 2024, an initiative of IDB Lab, the innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Latest developments

In a February 2025 interview, the company said it was focused on raising a seed round, doubling its number of active clients and expanding to at least five countries. Its SommosAgro programmed-savings application for agricultural inputs is deployed with CIDRE IFD in Bolivia.