Nobody likes feeling left out.
As a first-generation Afro-Latina and female co-founder of a startup that aims to improve American Sign Language communication accessibility, Yamillet Payano knows the feeling. That makes being part of Amazon Web Services Inc.’s Impact Accelerator Latino Founders Cohort all the more significant.
“To be counted in is really important to me,” Payano said. “I’m so laser focused and every little thing that goes wrong for me is a massive thing, but we have to take a step back and say, ‘No, my ancestors fought for me to be there. They did it, and so did I.’ And to have a team that feels that really means a lot to me.”
Payano is from the Dominican Republic and moved to Rochester four years ago to lead Sign-Speak after working in Washington, D.C., as a quantitative analyst on the Federal National Mortgage Association‘s (Fannie Mae) Fair Lending Team.
Sign-Speak, which started about five years ago, is creating automated American Sign Language, or ASL, recognition, transcription and production applications for on-demand, easy communication with those in the deaf and hard of hearing community.
The Rochester-based startup is developing two use cases with this technology. One is for in-person interactions where Sign-Speak’s software is pre-downloaded on a tablet for customers to use as needed. There are many applications to this technology — like education, retail and hospitality — but the business is focused first on financial institutions and is starting a pilot in Chicago in August.
The business expects to do a mass deployment of its in-person technology in Q2 2024.
The second in-progress application is using the software online by integrating with video chat platforms to translate spoken word into ASL via avatar and sign to be translated into spoken word.
“The major issue in America right now is that interpreting agencies cannot deal with the demand that the deaf community has,” she said.
The eight-week AWS accelerator, which runs through June 29, includes training, mentorship, resources and $225,000 in unrestricted cash grants and AWS credits.
Sign-Speak’s data and infrastructure are hosted in AWS, so this accelerator will help lower the startup’s costs and will connect the business with others who have successfully built their own businesses or have technical expertise, Payano said.
Prior to getting in the accelerator, the startup had raised about $1 million between dilutive and non-dilutive funds, including a pre-seed round that Launch NY and the Boston Impact Initiative participated in, and a National Science Foundation grant. Sign-Speak has also participated in TechStars Boston.
The company idea started from co-founder Nikolas Kelly’s struggles communicating as a deaf person. He paired up with co-founder Nicholas Wilkins, a former Google Inc. engineer who is fluent in ASL and went to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Payano joined the team a while later and said her main role is communicator, among other hats.
The startup works with nonprofits and has a team of about 50 sign language providers who help it improve its software. The providers are paid to log into the Sign-Speak app and use it. The business hopes to expand its team of providers to a few hundred.
As the startup perfects its model, the team wants to expand to help more people outside of those who use ASL. Different countries have various types of sign languages.
“Language is going to become a huge part of generative AI, and I think it’s very important that we include all languages, not just all the major languages of the world,” Payano said. “I really hope that people start seeing AI not just as this bad looming thing … but also as an opportunity to make access for people who currently do not have access."
