ashoka netherlands

What ashoka netherlands does

Ashoka Netherlands is the regional Netherlands office of Ashoka, a global nonprofit organization founded in 1980 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Established in the Netherlands in 2014, Ashoka Netherlands serves as part of a global network spanning 99 countries that supports leading social entrepreneurs, known as Ashoka Fellows, through funding, mentorship, and network access. The organization's core offerings include the Ashoka Fellows Network (4,000+ social innovators), Ashoka Young Changemakers (youth leadership program), Ashoka Changemaker Schools (K-12 changemaker education), Ashoka Changemaker Campus (university partnerships), and the Ashoka Support Network (pro-bono professional expertise).

The organization operates as a platform-and-network model rather than a traditional product company, connecting social entrepreneurs with corporations, policymakers, educators, and cultural influencers to drive systemic change. Notable strategic partnerships include a co-created disability inclusion programme with IKEA (Dela) and an educational equity research collaboration with First Book. Ashoka Netherlands leverages digital content channels (website, YouTube, podcast, LinkedIn, Instagram) and a community-driven referral process to identify and engage new changemakers.

Ashoka's revenue model is based on philanthropic contributions from individual donors, foundations, corporations, and government partners rather than commercial sales. The organization does not publicly disclose financial figures. Its stated mission is to create an 'Everyone a Changemaker' world, focusing on systemic transformation rather than incremental solutions, with documented outcomes including 82% of Fellows' innovations being replicated across geographies and 74% having influenced public policy or legislation.

Name

ashoka netherlands

Legal name

Ashoka

Website

https://ashoka.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ashoka Netherlands is the regional Dutch office of the global nonprofit Ashoka, supporting social entrepreneurs through fellowships, funding, mentorship, and youth changemaking programs as part of a 99-country network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Entrepreneurship Support Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Educational Support Services (611710), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

International Development & Donor-Funded Education Programs (EDADALAB), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Social entrepreneurship support
• Changemaker fellowship programs
• Nonprofit social innovation
• Youth changemaking education
• Social impact partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Ashoka Netherlands delivers a fellowship program that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands, providing them with funding, mentorship, and access to a global network of 4,000+ social innovators across 99 countries. The organization also runs youth programs (Young Changemakers for ages 12-18), education programs (Changemaker Schools for K-12 and Changemaker Campus for universities), and the Ashoka Support Network offering pro-bono professional expertise. Programs are delivered through direct fellowship engagement, partnerships with corporations and foundations, and donor-supported funding.

Product overview

Ashoka is a social entrepreneurship organization operating as a platform-and-network model rather than a traditional software product. The core offering is the Ashoka Fellows Network (4000+ social innovators across 99 countries), supplemented by youth programs (Ashoka Young Changemakers), institutional programs (Ashoka Changemaker Campus and Ashoka Changemaker Schools), and the Ashoka Support Network. These interconnected programs work together to identify, support, and scale social innovations that address systemic challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ashoka Fellows: Social entrepreneurs selected into Ashoka's fellowship program, numbering over 4,000 across 99 countries.
• Ashoka Young Changemakers
• Ashoka Changemaker Schools
• Ashoka Changemaker Campus
• Ashoka Support Network
• Ashoka Netherlands

Products and services

• Ashoka Fellows Network A selective fellowship program that identifies, elects, and supports leading social entrepreneurs worldwide. Fellows receive funding, mentorship, strategic connections, and access to a global peer network of 4,000+ social innovators to help scale their systemic social innovations.
• Ashoka Young Changemakers A program for young people aged 12-18 recognized for leading change in their communities. Provides mentorship, resources, and amplification support to help youth changemakers scale their social impact.
• Ashoka Changemaker Schools A network of K-12 schools integrating empathy, leadership, and changmaking skills into education. Helps educational institutions transform how young people learn to be agents of social change, with particular focus on reaching low-income and historically excluded communities.
• Ashoka Changemaker Campus A program partnering with universities to embed changemaking into higher education, creating ecosystems for social innovation on college campuses and supporting the next generation of social entrepreneurs.
• Ashoka Support Network A global network of professionals offering Ashoka Fellows pro-bono expertise in areas such as business strategy, legal matters, and communications to help them scale their social innovations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of Ashoka social entrepreneurs have had their innovations replicated in other geographies
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IKEAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIKEA and Ashoka co-created the Dela systems change programme to find, strengthen, and scale innovative solutions for disability inclusion. The partnership brings together experts from both fields contributing to equality and supports social enterprises creating a more disability-inclusive society.
• First BookcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAshoka and First Book partnered to uncover from educators what it takes to reach young people from low-income and historically excluded communities with changemaker mindset education that integrates their perspectives and lived experiences.
• InVento LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAshoka Fellow Giulia Detomati, founder and CEO of InVento Lab and participant in the Dela programme, launched 'Breaking the Cycle,' an experiential game bringing gender equity into organizations.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Echoing Green: Echoing Green is a direct peer — it runs a fellowship program for emerging social entrepreneurs with seed funding and leadership support, mirroring Ashoka's core Fellow model. Both organizations compete for the same pool of high-potential social entrepreneur candidates and the same institutional donors.
• Skoll Foundation: Skoll Foundation is a direct peer — it invests in social entrepreneurs and funds systemic change through awards, partnerships, and the Skoll World Forum. It competes with Ashoka for both social entrepreneur talent and the same multinational donor ecosystem.
• Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: Schwab Foundation operates a global social entrepreneur network and partners with the World Economic Forum, closely overlapping Ashoka's global Fellow community and corporate partnership model. Both convene leading social entrepreneurs and broker connections with policymakers and corporations.
• New Profit: New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that backs social entrepreneurs with unrestricted capital and capacity-building support, functioning as a direct peer to Ashoka's Fellowship model in the US market. Both compete for philanthropic capital and high-impact portfolio organizations.

Broad incumbents

• Acumen: Acumen invests patient capital in social enterprises tackling poverty, with a global Fellows program analogous to Ashoka's network. It is a broader incumbent in the social entrepreneurship support space, with a more explicitly impact-investing orientation.
• Ford Foundation: Ford Foundation is a major philanthropic foundation that funds social innovation and system change initiatives globally. While much broader than Ashoka, it is comparable as a large-scale grantmaker in the same funding pools and overlapping mission areas.
• Open Society Foundations: Open Society Foundations is a large global grantmaking foundation with significant work in social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and systems change. It is comparable to Ashoka at the broader foundation level and frequently co-funds social innovation initiatives.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The Gates Foundation is one of the world's largest philanthropic foundations, funding global development, education, and social innovation. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Ashoka at the funding-mission level though vastly larger in scale.

Regional players

• UnLtd: UnLtd is the UK-based leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs with awards, programs, and a national network. It is a regional peer to Ashoka in Europe, with comparable support-for-social-entrepreneurs mission but focused on the UK market.
• Social Enterprise NL: Social Enterprise NL is the Dutch national network and advocacy organization for social enterprises, based in the same geography as Ashoka Netherlands. It is a regional peer serving the overlapping Dutch social entrepreneurship ecosystem and competing for the same local partnerships and visibility.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/ashoka
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ashoka-netherlands
• Instagraminstagram.com/ashokaglobal/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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