Filipino Startup for the Hearing-Impaired Chosen for Real Madrid Next Accelerator Program
A11y Media, a Filipino startup working for social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities, is one of seven startups selected to participate in the Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia. The program is jointly organized by Creww, a leading open innovation platform provider in Japan, and Real Madrid Next (RMNext), a unit of the popular football team dedicated to developing innovation projects.
Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia targets early and middle-stage startups in Asia in the field of sports-tech, health-tech, fan engagement, etc. which aligns with RMNext’s six areas of work, namely e-health, performance, fan engagement, audiovisual, cybersecurity & technological infrastructures and social.
The seven startups were chosen out of over 800 applicants across Asia.
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Launched in January 2024, Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia aims to create business partnerships between RMNext and Asian startups. Creww partnered with RMNext to bring innovative technologies and services from Asian startups “to develop projects that aim to improve and advance the sports industry.”
“The Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia' program is designed to not only boost the growth of Asian startups, but to also create an innovation community for RMNext, by carrying out continuous programs for Asian startups to innovate the sports industry as a whole in the decades to come,” the news release said.
Applications for the program opened in February 2024, after which seven startups were chosen. These startups will undergo mentoring and workshops as well as “brushing up on business collaboration ideas” that will culminate in a Proof of Concept and Demo Day to share their results.
What is a11y startup
A11y Media, which was formerly called Wika, is focused on democratizing accessibility for Filipino deaf, hard of hearing and Filipino Sign Language (FSL) interpreters by providing assistive content such as sign language, videos, captions, and audio descriptions. The startup is currently focused on making existing videos accessible. This means mostly educational (and a few entertainment) content that is pre-recorded or stored.
According to a11y (pronounced a-eleven-y), there are over 500 million deaf or hard of hearing people around the world. While most people think that the obvious solution for them to enjoy videos onscreen is to provide captions, only two percent of deaf children have access to formal education. This means that the majority of the world’s “profoundly deaf” are illiterate. This is where a11y comes in.
“A11y lets people with hearing and/or visual disabilities access educational (and entertainment) videos,” according to its introductory video posted on its website. “Our app identifies what the user is watching, then lets the user choose sign language for the deaf, captions for the hard of hearing, or audio description for the blind or visually impaired.
“Upon selection, the app delivers the content, synchronized to what the viewer is watching.”
It’s a groundbreaking app that lets millions of people who cannot read or prefer to communicate in sign language access education and entertainment videos.
According to the startup’s FAQ section, the assistive content that it currently provides mostly come from content partners, although it expects that they will soon be user-generated.
A11y has also developed an augmented reality (AR) wearable that overlays captions or sign language over a translucent screen.
“The United Nations estimate that by 2030, 900+ million people will live with some form of hearing and/or visual disability—more than 100 million of whom are profoundly deaf or bilaterally blind,” a11y says in its FAQ page. “A great majority of the 70+ million profoundly deaf live in developing countries, most cannot read captions.
“Our endgame is social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities—first with universal access to education, which ultimately enhances employability and socio-economic participation.”
The other startups selected for the Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia include moty, Fitogether, and QueryPie from South Korea; AMATELUS from Japan; Spot from Taiwan; and Adofaer from Hong Kong.
An online unveiling ceremony for the selected startups will be held on September 3 to announce the startups to partners, media, and other external parties.
