Speaksee
Jari Hazelebach, CEO and co-founder of Speaksee , was inspired by his deaf parents to help deaf and hard of hearing people reintegrate into society. That’s why he developed the Speaksee Microphone Kit, which allows deaf and hard of hearing people to follow group conversations. Speaksee is also working on the ability to translate conversations in real time with the new Speaksee CaptionCast product for use during events.
2019
Project Start
Speaksee products and services are therefore born from a deep understanding of their users and their challenges. The Speaksee Microphone Kit records live what is said during personal & group meetings and transcribes the conversation in real time into text on a smartphone. This allows hearing impaired people to read what is said directly.
Speaksee identifies speakers in different colors, which then appear in the App. This way it is easy to see who is saying what. The Microphone Kit uses a series of sensors to do this. The microphone intelligently isolates and captures speech from the user and rejects noise from other sources.
Speaksee can be used on smartphones, laptops and desktops and the app is available for iOS and Android devices.
2019
Pitch
2019 - Speaksee as first case in our Integrated Capital Lab
Speaksee was the first case that was presented and discussed with a wide range of different financiers in our first Integrated Capital Lab (ICL) in January 2019. Financiers that were present were Oneplanetcrowd (now Invesdor), ABN Amro Sustainable Impact Fund, RVO/Invest International, INZET, Rabo Foundation, Triodos Bank and Stichting DOEN. It was a great kick-start of the ICL proposition for both Speaksee and Generous Minds, because Speaksee got a lot of valuable input on their business at that time. The financiers in turn indicated in which phases they could support with financing.
The ICL has led to a DTIF loan of €215,430 via RVO/Invest International, which enabled Speaksee to produce in collaboration with a Taiwanese partner. This loan has now been repaid and a new loan has been provided that is still running. In addition, Jari has been put in touch with an informal investor via Generous Minds who has so far invested €700,000 in Speaksee with a group of other informal investors.
"Generous Minds has provided us with access to a very high-quality network of social investors who fit well with our vision. I really enjoy working with them because they are truly different from other parties in the market. We operate from a foundation of trust, so you don't have to worry about being disadvantaged in the small print."
Jari Hazelebach, CEO & Founder Speaksee
Dec 2021 - Jan 2022
Minds & Money
Generous Minds support - Minds & Money
As time goes by, Speaksee develops in line with expectations. In close collaboration with Speaksee, we keep the overview and support them with expertise and finding the right impact financiers for the next growth phases. In line with our philosophy, we introduce our Generous Minds experts where relevant, to increase the chance of success and impact by combining forces. For example, support is and will be provided for:
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A review of the product design and manufacturing aspects of Speaksee by Ronald Lewerissa
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Advising on efforts to get Speaksee reimbursed by health insurers with support from Maarten Broekema
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Creating and substantiating a valuation for the first and second round financing by Frank Härte
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Developing brand awareness by Marie-Claire van Hessen and Britt Vries through our partner MCPR
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Exploring synergy effects between United Repair Centre, also a company supported by Generous Minds, and Speaksee which resulted in this video showing how Speaksee technology is used to help non-native employees communicate with each other in the workplace
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Guiding the various financing rounds by Ronald Beuk and Jurek Hryniuk.
2024
Financing
Vision and long-term goals
Looking ahead, Oyster Heaven has ambitious plans to expand their reef restoration to the UK, Belgium and the US. They also want to further refine their Mother Reef technology to make it even more cost-effective and scalable. They are also exploring new partnerships with industries that can benefit from the ecosystem services provided by restored oyster reefs.
Oyster Heaven is committed to creating a self-sustaining model for marine restoration, where profits from the sale of ecosystem services fund future reef restoration projects. This approach ensures that their impact will continue to grow over time, creating a positive feedback loop that benefits both the environment and society.
"To develop your business as an entrepreneur you need a lot of resilience, we also call that the 'resilience factor'. What is Jari's resilience factor?"
"Because my parents are deaf and hard of hearing, I experience and feel how difficult this can be. They and other deaf, hard of hearing and non-native speakers constantly have the feeling that they are not being taken into account. That they do not exist. While it is very difficult for friends, family and colleagues to focus only on them during a group meeting. I want to solve this and that drive always pulls me through. In addition, the trust that Generous Minds always has in me also supports me enormously."
Jari Hazelebach, CEO & Founder Speaksee
2030
Vision
Future Vision of Jari
Speaksee is ready to make a positive difference for many more deaf, hard of hearing and non-native speakers. Both in education, private and in the work environment. Jari's ultimate goal is to make the price of Speaksee products as accessible as possible, so that there are no more barriers for people to participate normally in society again.
They want to provide all churches, funeral homes, conference centers, lecture halls with the Speaksee CaptionCast product that is currently in development. Then such a location only has to plug and play it into an audio system and they are immediately accessible to everyone. The visitor can scan a QR code with his/her own phone and choose in which language he/she wants to read along (40 available languages). It can also be displayed on a large screen so that everyone can read it (see Social Enterprise World Forum event, 2023). Or even embed it in a digital broadcast with the same device.
Personally, Speaksee is one of our favorite entrepreneurs that we support with Generous Minds & Money. Jari and his team are very authentic, professional and fun to work with! It is great to experience how they continuously develop Speaksee to the next level and make the desired impact on the lives of deaf, hard of hearing and non-native speakers. Click below to see some first reactions from users who experience Speaksee for the first time in their lives.
