About us
Belonging Beyond Borders.
We believe international students do not struggle for lack of programmes, but for lack of encounters. kommili makes sure a suggestion becomes a real meeting.
Why kommili exists
Arriving is more than enrolling.
When you move to a new country, you soon have an address, a student number and a bank account. What takes far longer is having people nearby to share a coffee with, practise the language with and get to know the city with.
Universities know this and run buddy and tandem programmes. But the organisation often rests on a few people in the International Office. kommili takes the manual work off their hands and shows what their work achieves.
Who is behind it
A founding team that knows what arriving feels like.
Conor-James Donnellan
Co-founder
Knows from his own experience what it is like to arrive in Germany as an international employee, and how hard it can be to find people to learn the culture and language with.
Jens-Fabian Nehmer
Co-founder
Has experience helping international students and employees learn the German language and culture.
Mohammad Asad Akhtar
Co-founder
Is an international student himself. His own requirements for a platform like kommili have been built in from the start.
kommili is based in north-west Germany. Questions, live demos and support go straight to the founding team: hi@kommili.com.
What we stand for
Four principles you can hold us to.
Human interaction over AI
kommili brings people together rather than replacing them. Our matching is explainable and makes suggestions; students decide who to meet and have the conversation themselves.
Encounters
For us, success means a meeting, ideally in person on campus, online when that is not possible. That is why the confirmed meeting is our key figure, not time spent in the app.
Privacy
Servers in Germany, each university's data kept strictly apart, no trackers and no advertising. Student data is used only to run the programme.
Safety
Closed sign-up through the university, verified profiles, blocking and reporting, and moderation your International Office can see. Anyone meeting someone new should feel safe doing it.