The advent of mobile phones has profoundly impacted communication options for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind. Previously, they had to rely on others like interpreters, stenographers, and captioners, making private communication impossible, or use slow, cumbersome machines like TTY to type messages over landlines. Nagish is an accessibility platform that provides seamless, real-time captioning powered by AI, allowing both speech-to-text and text-to-speech. Without the need for human-operated relays, the platform introduces independence while keeping all calls private. Nagish works with existing phones and offers advanced options like personal dictionaries, saved transcripts, and filters, while being compatible with any existing auditory devices. The company recently received certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Nagish is completely free for consumer users, with paid options for enterprise use, promoting greater inclusivity in both personal and professional spheres.
AlleyWatch caught up with Nagish CEO Tomer Aharoni to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the company’s total funding to $17M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Nagish raised an $11M Series A, led by Canaan Partners, with participation from existing investors: Vertex Ventures IL, Cardumen Capital, K5 Global / Tokyo Black, and Contour Venture Partners. This round complements Nagish’s $5M Seed Round with participation from Vertex Ventures IL, Cardumen Capital, Precursor Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, and Olivier Pomel and Benjamin Porterfield (founders of Datadog and Looker, respectively).
Tell us about the product or service that Nagish offers.
Nagish offers a suite of tools to make communication accessible for people with hearing loss in person, over the phone, and at work.
What inspired the start of Nagish?
We started Nagish after learning that deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can’t have private conversations. That was back in 2019, and it sounded unbelievable to us that if you have hearing loss, your only way to communicate with a hearing person is to rely on interpreters, stenographers, or captioners. We were inspired to use technology to change that and provide a solution to significantly improve the quality of life of people with hearing loss.
How is Nagish different?
Nagish is different because it’s the first accessibility companion for people with hearing loss that offers a complete ecosystem for phone calls, in-person communications, and workplace communications.
Unlike traditional relay providers, Nagish relies solely on AI, which means our services are faster, more accurate, and 100% private.
What market does Nagish target and how big is it?
Nagish targets the hearing loss market. Over 1 billion people worldwide, including 40 million people in the U.S., have some degree of hearing loss.
What’s your business model?
Nagish has two business models. On the consumer side, we provide our services for free and rely on reimbursements from the federal government. Nagish is one of very few companies certified by the FCC to offer relay services.
On the enterprise side, we provide a full suite of products and charge in brackets based on usage.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
Accessibility is a human right regardless of the state of the economy. A potential economic slowdown is not a significant risk factor in that regard.
What was the funding process like?
It was quick. Nagish was certified by the FCC early in January. Following the announcement, we’ve seen significant interest from investors. We started taking meetings in February and received the first term sheet in March. We closed in May.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Combining fundraising with day-to-day operations and growth.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The size of the market, the lack of technology in the market, and our traction to date.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Nagish is eying another certification from the U.S. government to provide another class of relay services and is moving forward on a planned global expansion.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Stay lean as much as possible. Ditch the office space. If a pivot is needed, do it before it’s too late.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We are currently expanding the team to support the exponential growth and be able to offer Nagish to more people. We plan to release new and exciting products that will provide more utility to our users.
What’s your favorite summer destination in and around the city?
In the city: Vital Climbing Gym in Brooklyn during the weekend.
Outside of the city: The Shawangunks Mountains for climbing, nature, and swimming.
