South African startup Vambo AI is giving users the ability to use world-class, highly-advanced artificial intelligence (AI) in their native tongues.
Founded by Chido Dzinotyiwei and Isheanesu Misi in April 2023, Vambo AI builds AI that “understands the languages of people in the rest of the world”.
“The reason why most of the world has not used AI – or explored its revolutionary power for education, economic empowerment and more – is because it is not built in languages they understand,” Dzinotyiwei said.
With Vambo AI, individual users can write, search, translate and transcribe, while businesses and innovators can use the startup’s API and developer tools to build solutions for people across multiple geographies, and localise solutions that “have solved pertinent problems in other regions”.
The platform currently understands 11 languages, including Arabic, KiSwahili, IsiZulu and French. Dzinotyiwei founded Vambo Academy, a language-learning startup, in 2019, and Vambo AI sprang out of the learnings from that.
“We identified a significant gap in the market for multilingual generative AI platforms specifically tailored to address the linguistic diversity of communities with low resource languages,” she said.
“Approximately 95 per cent of African languages lack digital representation, and this has dire consequences for economic participation, language preservation and societal development. While there are various language learning and translation tools available, they often focus on widely spoken languages or lack the depth and accuracy needed for lesser-known African languages.”
Traditional language-learning platforms such as Duolingo and Babbel do exist, but they mostly do not prioritise the nuances and complexities of African languages.
“We aim to fill this gap by offering a platform that not only facilitates language learning but also enables content generation, communication and cultural preservation in African languages by focusing on African languages and leveraging advanced AI technologies. Our deep understanding of African linguistic landscapes and our commitment to cultural inclusivity set us apart from existing solutions in the market,” said Dzinotyiwei.
“We have received interest from a variety of organisations with varying needs for language capabilities. Our business is based in South Africa, however we serve users and clients across multiple geographies. We have clients from as close as Kenya and Zimbabwe and as far as India and the US.”
Vambo AI has mostly bootstrapped its business, with a few disbursements of AWS credits. Its business model includes API licensing and B2B enterprise solutions.
“Building AI with limited resources has not been without its challenges, but we have a deep belief in our solution and committed ourselves to make it work. Our first MVP had four languages, and now we are on 11 languages widely spoken in Africa,” Dzinotyiwei said.
The startup was recently selected for the latest Injini Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship accelerator in South Africa, while last year it took part in Grindstone Africa, a globally-recognised accelerator engineering high-growth entrepreneurship.
“We are looking forward to making good use of the resources on offer to further build Vambo AI,” said Dzinotyiwei.
“Our expansion plans revolve around building better models, adding more languages to our platform and including features that resonate with the needs of our client base.”
