Five Startups Shaping the Language AI Landscape in Africa

Five startups are shaping the landscape of Language AI in Africa by addressing the lack of data and resources for African languages. VulaVula is a language technology service that uses text and speech technologies to increase computational understanding of underrepresented languages, especially South African languages. Gotbot provides conversational AI chatbots for businesses, automating tasks and providing individualized customer service. Botlhale AI offers voice biometrics, voice enabled chatbots, and APIs for African languages, eliminating language barriers for users. Mymanu enables real-time translation through earbuds in 47 different languages. Lesan AI is an automated translation service for Amharic and Tigrinya, with plans to expand to other Ethiopian languages. These startups are working to ensure the representation of African languages in NLP and encourage research for these languages.