The business media sector has witnessed a significant development with the investment in a pioneering AI-based sign language translation firm, Signapse, by the Czech venture capital fund, Soulmate Ventures. This noteworthy financial backing underscores the growing interest in technological solutions that foster inclusivity and accessibility.
- Soulmate Ventures has emerged as the principal investor in the seed funding round for the UK-based Signapse, which specializes in generative AI for sign language translation.
- The startup has successfully secured a seed funding of €2.4M, with €1.8M contributed by investors and an additional €588K from the UK Government.
- Joining the investment are notable entities such as the Royal Association for Deaf people, Empirical Ventures, CEAS Investments, and FSE Group.
Founded in 2020, Soulmate Ventures is a Czech accelerator and venture capital firm with a commitment to sustainable innovation. They actively seek out seed-stage startups across Europe, offering a bespoke acceleration program and avenues for growth.
Previously, the firm has demonstrated a preference for startups with roots in Central and Eastern Europe, including Flowpay, Ogre Ai, and Masmonq among others.
Signapse has made strides in sign language translation software, utilizing generative AI to achieve photorealistic and precise translations. With the fresh funding, the company aims to enhance accessibility for the deaf community by developing unconstrained translation for British Sign Language and expanding their AI messaging capabilities from specific sectors like transport to more universal applications, such as website and video translation.
We at Soulmate Ventures are proud and excited to be a part of the Signapse endeavor in building unconstrained generative AI sign language translation. Their innovative solution is reflecting the daily challenges and needs of the Deaf people. We are looking forward to supporting the Signapse team through our acceleration programme to amplify their distinctive real-time solution and enhance accessibility in transport, mass media, TV, streaming services and others for the Deaf community globally
expressed Michal Sikyta, Investment Director at Soulmate Ventures, highlighting the investment’s alignment with the firm’s mission to support innovative solutions that address the needs of diverse communities.
