Now, Startups coming up with solutions for people having speech and language problems

It is not all about creating an online store as your first venture. Startups nowadays are focusing on diverse areas. From aerospace to solar power generation, the Startup culture is catching up with every traditional business domain. Startups focusing on Healthcare segment are also increasing day by day. Innoflaps is one such Startup which provides solutions for people having speech and language problems. It is a Delhi based Startup which specializes in making products for people with communication problems.

They are a team of speech therapy professionals and engineers who specialize in the field of speech products. One of their products SpeakFluent is a compact device which eases out the complications for a speaker and caters to a range of speech deficiency including stammering, fast rate of speech, low loudness and poor speech clarity among others.

Consisting of a team of speech therapists and engineers, Innoflaps has the potential of taking social entrepreneurship to a whole new level. They have demonstrated their products SpeakFluent and Speechifi, which targets problems like autism and delayed speech and language at various places including at the first world congress on Ear and Hearing Centre, CIGICON 2015 and India-US Startup Konnect which was attended by Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi.

Companies are also coming up with apps to assist people with these problems. AssistiveWare is one such company which offers several assistive technology software products for Apple’s Mac OS X and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Grembe Inc. is another company which allows allows people to create pictures, flashcards, storyboards, routines, visual schedules and record custom audio in any language through their app.

The number of people who have stammering problems or other speech or hearing problems is in millions, but there is an acute shortage of therapists and medical professionals to tackle this issue. These problems, if attended at an early age or with proper therapy, can be easily corrected. But, the infrastructural deficiencies in the form of acute shortage of related professionals is making it look like an epidemic. One of the worst impacts of not attending to these problems on a massive scale is that it is hampering the learning outcomes of children. They are ill-treated by their friends and teachers and leave an indelible mark on their minds. Ultimately affecting the national productivity.

At a time when it is common for VC funds to invest in Tech Startups, investing in Startups which have a potential of bringing large scale social impact doesn’t seem to be a bad idea. With most of the governments focusing on Entrepreneurs, a separate department to promote social Startups can be a good move where the government can work hand in hand with these Startups in order to achieve the government’s ultimate objective i.e. social welfare.