QF-funded startup to ‘revolutionise’ dialectal speech recognition tech for Arabic speakers

An innovative ‘speech tech’ startup is aiming to lead the market in Arabic speech recognition that supports 19 dialects.“The smaller market of Arabic speakers versus English speakers and the dialectal challenges of Arabic have limited voice technology in the region,” said Ryan Carmichael, chief executive officer of Kanari AI. Kanari AI is a recipient of the Tech Venture Fund (TVF) from Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), part of Qatar Foundation's (QF’s) Research, Development and Innovation (QF RDI). The company licensed its core technology from Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), part of QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).Carmichael said Kanari AI was launched in 2020 to provide innovative Arabic speech recognition that recognises individual dialects in audio and video files to convert them to written text.“We created the leading dialectal Arabic speech recognition platform in the market to detect 19 Arabic dialects in one global model. This covers 95% of the market, so this really sets us apart from the competition,” he explained.According to Carmichael, written and spoken Arabic takes many forms – from accents to linguistic inflections and regional dialects. It is assumed that there are at least 22 dialects of Arabic in circulation today, he said.“Perhaps due to its complexity, many tech companies have avoided making Arabic a central focus of their R&D and services. This includes popular speech recognition platforms,” Carmichael noted.Reflecting on the Qatari market’s unique features and how startups like Kanari AI can succeed within it, Carmichael said: “The first thing that comes to mind is ‘partnership’. Qatar is a smaller market – but it is immensely meaningful. “By having the support of QSTP and QCRI, startups gain immediate validation, which helps onboard initial customers. Just one customer in one vertical can help with the initial traction and growth that startups need.”Kanari AI stood out as one of the promising outputs of QSTP’s Research to Startup (RTS) programme, a unique platform that links entrepreneurs with QF RDI’s Industry Development and Knowledge Transfer office, research institutes, and the TVF team.“The pre-seed investment allowed us to hire the right team to complete our tech transfer and prepare our products for commercialisation. Having QSTP as an investor also helped us attract additional capital,” Carmichael said.Kanari AI has since developed new elements of its business model based on the core technology and has steadily grown its customer base partly due to the global demand for new communications technologies stimulated by the pandemic.“Covid-19 has actually helped the global speech recognition market as people interact more on virtual platforms – from online meetings to customer service. The opportunity for speech technology is everywhere,” Carmichael explained.Carmichael said Kanari AI is rapidly asserting itself as a leader in speech recognition in the Arabic-speaking world. Its partners range from the UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) Innovation Cell in support of peacemaking efforts in the MENA region through AI dialectal speech recognition, to government parliaments. An active participant across various startup platforms, Kanari AI was recently selected as one of 20 promising startups for the Alchemist Accelerator's 29th Demo Day, joining other promising early-stage ventures that monetise from enterprises. For Carmichael, Qatar’s innovation ecosystem laid the groundwork for Kanari AI’s success, particularly the collaboration and teamwork at QSTP.“On the tech side, licensing AI technology can be challenging because the core models are complex. The QCRI IP team did an excellent job ensuring that the technology was transferred and working properly,” Carmichael stressed. “On the investment side, we received capital support but also links to investors and partners. Launching a startup during a global pandemic is challenging to say the least. But the right partners understand that things do not always go as planned and can work with you to face the challenge,” he emphasised.Looking ahead, Carmichael wants to encourage other up-and-coming entrepreneurs to follow Kanari AI's footsteps and “take charge of their ideas.” He said, “Be honest about your current needs and challenges. Be patient with the process and ask for help when needed.”QSTP’s TVF is a strategic venture capital fund designed to support local innovative startups and attract international ones looking to scale in the region. The fund provides opportunities for local, regional, and global tech founders and entrepreneurs to source seed-stage funding and follow-on capital. It also seeks to lower the barriers to starting a tech venture within Qatar’s growing innovation ecosystem.To apply and learn more about QSTP’s TVF, visit https://qstp.org.qa/tech-venture-fund/. For more information on Kanari AI, visit https://kanari.ai.Ends