How do you hold a conversation in a world that wasn’t built for you?
For millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people, everyday communication at school, at work, in hospitals or on public transport can be an ongoing challenge. There are an estimated 70 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people worldwide who use sign language to communicate and more than 150,000 in the UK alone. The need for accessible, real-time tools has never been more urgent. And yet, reliable solutions are still few and far between.
That’s exactly what Silence Speaks set out to change. Built at the intersection of AI innovation and lived experience, the startup has developed an intelligent sign language translation app that converts text, voice, and video into expressive sign language via avatars. It’s technology designed not just to translate, but to connect, bridging a gap that too many have been forced to navigate alone.
This bold approach to inclusion is what earned Silence Speaks recognition as this year’s StartUp for Good, Digital StartUp and regional winner at the 2025 South East StartUp Awards, a celebration of startups solving real-world problems with purpose, vision, and integrity.
Founded by Pavan Madduru, a former Vodafone AI leader with over two decades of experience in ethical tech innovation, Silence Speaks was built on both professional expertise and personal insight. After travelling with a deaf engineer friend, Madduru witnessed just how difficult and often isolating day-to-day life could be without accessible communication tools. It made clear the need for a more effective, real-time approach to sign language translation and laid the foundation for Silence Speaks.
The result is a revolutionary app that converts text, voice, and video into sign language using lifelike AI avatars. These avatars don’t just translate, they communicate. Trained on datasets that reflect regional dialects, emotional tone, and natural signing speed, they deliver British Sign Language (BSL) and American Sign Language (ASL) translation that feels human, expressive, and intuitive. Users can choose between photorealistic or animated characters, and companies can even license their own branded avatars.
Across everyday situations, from catching a train to connecting at work, Silence Speaks is making communication more inclusive for sign language users.
Silence Speaks is already making an impact across industries. A greeting card retailer is using the technology to embed personal signed messages. In schools and offices, it’s unlocking better support for deaf learners and professionals, communities who are too often left behind.
As accessibility legislation continues to evolve, with the British Sign Language Act 2022 setting new expectations for public bodies, the urgency for inclusive solutions is only growing. Silence Speaks meets that need not only with technical precision, but with authenticity. Deaf engineers and sign language linguists have been involved from the very beginning, ensuring the platform is built with the community, not just for it.
That commitment to impact is what earned Silence Speaks the StartUp for Good Award. In a category designed to spotlight businesses that balance purpose with innovation, it was clear that Silence Speaks is doing both and doing them well.
But the journey doesn’t stop here. The team is now working toward real-time, two-way sign language translation that will one day allow users to sign into a camera and receive instant speech or text in response essentially enabling sign-to-speech and sign-to-sign translation across multiple languages. It’s ambitious, but deeply needed. And with advances in AI and continued collaboration with the deaf community, it’s on the horizon.
The South East StartUp Awards win is a powerful moment of recognition. It validates the work Silence Speaks is doing to dismantle invisible barriers and create real, lasting change.
This startup is speaking up for millions and the world is finally listening. We’ll be cheering them on at the UK national finals this September at Ideas Fest. Grab your tickets now and be part of the celebration https://ideasfest.uk/ideas-fest-2025-tickets/