“B Corporations” are organizations that succeed in creating a good balance between “purpose” and “profit”. They are organizations that not only strive for profitability, but also take people, the environment and society as a starting point in their activities. Although more and more companies and organizations are aware of the need for this and want to be certified by B Corp, obtaining the certificate is certainly not easy. The “B Corporation” certificate is only awarded if at least 80 of the 200 points have been obtained in the “B Impact Assessment”: a way to measure the sustainable and social impact of an organization. In addition to their social mission, the activities and culture of organizations are examined on the basis of dozens of (social) factors, such as the business model, processes that facilitate social ways of thinking and the way in which sustainability is embedded in work processes.

Caroline Henneman, the Head of Marketing & Growth at Squla, guided this assessment from start to finish. “We are very proud to receive this certificate, which is a special milestone for Squla. Since our foundation, it has been our mission to help every child progress through play and this certification is a crown on our work. Moreover, obtaining a B Corp certificate is no easy task. It is preceded by an extensive process that takes several months. During this certification, our organization was screened at all levels. Squla passed this assessment with flying colors and we did not have to make any structural adjustments to qualify.”

Serge Bueters, the CEO of Squla, considers it honourable that Squla can call itself a ‘B Corp’ and is part of a select group of organizations that want to make a positive impact on society and that themes such as social responsibility, transparency and sustainability are of paramount importance. are the standard. “I consider it a very nice recognition of our mission. Squla wants to enable all children – regardless of their parents’ financial resources – to grow and use their talents. That is a mission to which we have been faithful for ten years. For many years, Squla has served as a supplement to education and a nice extra support in teaching to stimulate, challenge and grow students’ self-confidence at their own level and pace. In the existing education system – with its ever-expanding classes and the growing teacher shortage – this is no superfluous luxury. This is how we give substance to our social responsibility and we are extremely proud that Squla can call itself a “B Corporation”.

Squla can be used as a low-threshold and accessible tool that teachers can use to give children an extra helping hand, not only at school, but also at home. For example, “Squla in de Klas” is free every day of the week during school hours. After school, the platform is available at home for paying subscribers. Here Squla tries to keep the threshold as low as possible for families who are less fortunate and works together with organizations such as Stichting Leergeld and the Het Jeugdeducatiefonds. In the past period, Squla has shown in various ways that it takes its social responsibility seriously. When the schools had to close their doors this spring due to corona, this was the reason to open ‘Squla in de Klas’ to all children in the Netherlands, also at home. By making the platform free for all primary school students, Squla has met a great need. Every day, more than 300,000 children logged into the platform from home and answered more than 80 million questions about the teaching material they used to practice.

The B Corp movement is an initiative of the B Lab founded in 2006. This American non-profit organization is active worldwide in the development, award and verification of the B Corp certification. B Lab is now active in 70 countries and in the Netherlands for the past five years. There are currently 3,600 “B Corps” worldwide, of which about 800 in Europe and over 100 in the Netherlands. The B Corp status shows that the company does not only successfully focus on commercial, but also on social and sustainable purposes, thereby contributing to a better world. To achieve this status, companies go through a strict audit. This involves an evaluation of the company’s social, ecological and societal performance and looking at transparency and accountability. Companies that achieve at least 80 out of 200 points in this evaluation may call themselves a B Corp. After that, they must re-certify every three years to maintain their B Corp status.

Squla is the largest provider of supplementary education in the Netherlands. More than 180,000 primary students practice and play Squla from home and more than 600,000 primary students through their primary school. Squla is an online exercise program for primary school students in grades 1 to 8. With fun quizzes and games they practice with the curriculum of school. Squla is a supplement, intended to support teaching at school and also at home, to stimulate students at their own level and at their own pace. Squla believes this should be available to every child. That is why teachers can use Squla in de Klas for free. Squla was developed by educational experts and game developers. This makes the quizzes not only fun, but also completely in line with the educational goals set by the government. Squla is part of Futurewhiz, which is active in Poland as well as in the Netherlands. Futurewhiz has 70 employees and is located in Amsterdam. In addition to Squla, Futurewhiz also owns WRTS, an online learning platform for high school students to learn words and concepts more easily and quickly, and scoyo, the German equivalent of Squla.

Note to the editor (not for publication)

For more information, please contact Caroline Henneman from Squla; phone: 0646847053; e-mail: caroline@squla.com.

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