Sign-Speak

Sign-Speak is a Deaf-owned artificial intelligence company developing language software that recognizes American Sign Language (ASL) and translates it into spoken language, and converts spoken language into ASL through a generative-AI avatar. The company positions itself as the technology engine behind a suite of communication tools intended for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) community and the organizations that serve them.

Its product line includes SignCaption (also referred to as CaptionASL), which automatically generates and time-synchronizes closed captions for uploaded or recorded ASL videos; an enterprise add-on, AvatarASL, which translates spoken-language videos into ASL using the company's avatar with captions; and SignLive, which plugs into an organization's sound system to provide real-time avatar interpretation of speech into ASL with captions for live events, meetings, and broadcasts. Sign-Speak also offers an enterprise API and React / React Native SDK exposing sign language recognition (recognizeASL) and sign language production (produceASL) endpoints for integration into third-party platforms and devices.

The company runs a "Pioneers Program" giving SignCaption users early access to its all-in-one realtime ASL-to-voice and voice-to-ASL tooling in exchange for direct product feedback, and describes an enterprise workflow that includes batch video processing, custom volume-based billing, and a dashboard for editorial review of AI-generated captions.

Founding story

Nikolas Kelly enrolled at the Rochester Institute of Technology / National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID) intending to become a supply chain manager but encountered persistent daily communication barriers. In 2021 he left his MBA program to build a solution and partnered with Nicholas Wilkins, a machine learning expert and interpreter who left a position at Google, and Yamillet "Yami" Payano, fluent in Spanish, English, Chinese, and ASL, who left a full-time role at a major financial firm and declined a fully funded master's program. An AWS account gives the founding year as 2020 and lists Payano as CEO, Kelly as chief product officer, and Wilkins as chief technology officer. Payano's motivation stems in part from a Deaf family friend who could not attend school in the Dominican Republic because hiring an interpreter cost more than tuition.

Business model

Sign-Speak sells software products directly to individual users and to organizations. Self-serve sign-up for SignCaption is offered free at entry, while enterprise engagements are demo-led and include SignCaption Enterprise with custom plans and "high volume and predictable billing," the AvatarASL add-on, SignLive for live events, and an API/SDK for embedding recognition and avatar production into customer platforms.

Software sales to organizations under custom, volume-based enterprise plans, plus enterprise add-ons and API/SDK access; a free sign-up tier serves individual users.

Traction

The company's website states it is trusted by more than 10,000 eager users. It reports having raised its first institutional round of funding and received an NSF grant, and lists recognition including a CHI 2025 Honorable Mention, the CES 2025 Eureka Park Accessibility Contest, the AWS Impact Accelerator, the Google for Startups Fund, and NSF SBIR. It was accepted into the AWS Impact Accelerator Latino Cohort, an eight-week program providing a cash grant, credits, mentorship, and training without taking equity.

Latest developments

An AWS Startups feature published 1 May 2025 details the company's use of AWS Trainium, Inferentia, ECS, Fargate, and CodePipeline and its participation in the AWS Impact Accelerator Latino Cohort. The company lists 2025 recognitions including a CHI 2025 Honorable Mention and the CES 2025 Eureka Park Accessibility Contest, and is recruiting for two open roles including a full-time backend engineer with a base salary range of $120,000-$150,000.