Nagish, which empowers accessible communication through AI, has been certified by the FCC to provide relay services

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Jan 10, 2024, 07:18 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nagish, which uses AI to make communication accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, has been certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide telecommunication relay services. The certification makes Nagish one of the very few certified providers, accelerating the company's growth and advancement of accessibility.

"We started Nagish after realizing that people who are deaf or hard of hearing rely on other humans (ASL interpreters, stenographers, or captioning assistants) to communicate. Getting certified by the FCC as an AI-powered provider will change this notion forever - allowing Nagish to offer free, private, and accurate phone calls to people with hearing loss." - Tomer Aharoni, CEO of Nagish.

Nagish provides speech-to-text and text-to-speech solutions via a real-time captioning engine that makes calls more accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing while keeping calls private and secure.

The company was co-founded in 2021 by Tomer Aharoni (CEO) and Alon Ezer (CTO) - both military veterans turned software engineers who previously worked at Bloomberg and Sailpoint (respectively) and met while studying computer science at Columbia University in New York.

Since its inception, Nagish has developed a robust and secure relay platform that serves tens of thousands of users with the support of large enterprises such as Comcast NBCUniversal, Google Cloud, and more. The company currently offers accessible communication solutions over the phone, at the workplace, or in person - All via an intuitive mobile app.

The recent certification further validates Nagish's dedication to providing innovative and inclusive communication services. The recognition solidifies Nagish as a pioneer in the field, setting new standards for accessibility and ease of use in relay services.

The FCC Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS) fund reimburses certified relay providers who provide accessible communication solutions. Historically, the fund only funded human-operated services but, in recent years, has opened its doors to more automated approaches, following a rigorous certification process that can take several years to complete.

"Nagish is the first end-to-end private relay service that empowers deaf and hard of hearing individuals to communicate without having a third party on the line," said Aharoni.

Some of the company's investors include Vertex Ventures Israel, Cardumen Capital, Contour Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, Comcast NBCUniversal, Tokyo Black, and notable angel investors Olivier Pomel (Funder and CEO of Datadog), Ben Porterfield (Co-Founder of Looker), and Brian Thomas (Co-Founder of Clutter). Nagish has raised $4.8 million to date.

SOURCE Nagish