In a pre-seed investment round headed by Malpani Ventures and including participation from other angel investors, the speech treatment startup Iyaso has raised $500K.

According to a news release from Iyaso, the money raised will be utilized to create cutting-edge digital therapies driven by artificial intelligence that will revolutionize the way speech and communication impairments are addressed globally.

Viraj Kulkarni founded Iyaso, an AI-powered platform that provides speech treatment solutions, in 2023. It offers a guided program to improve fluency and foster a good attitude about speaking, with the goal of assisting users in overcoming stuttering through speech therapy. The platform wants to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make speech therapy more accessible, interesting, and successful than it has ever been.

Over 400 million people globally suffer from speech and language difficulties, which have a direct effect on their social relationships, professions, and academic performance, according to market research.

The Pune-based business claims to have created individualized and structured interventions to assist users in learning, practicing, and using speech therapy methods in practical settings.

Since its July 2024 launch, Iyaso claims that more than 20,000 customers in more than 150 countries have utilized their initial product, Eloquent for Stuttering. Eloquent uses AI-powered activities and realistic practice simulations to assist stutterers become more confident and fluent. More than 75% of participants move to a lower stuttering severity category after using it, according to early validation tests, which also reveal a 34% gain in communication confidence and a 53% reduction in stuttering severity.