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Pakistani startup Uplift AI has secured $3.5 million in funding to develop voice-based technology that allows people to interact with devices in their native languages.
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Uplift AI, a Pakistan-based startup, has announced raising $3.5 million from Y Combinator, Indus Valley Capital, and other investors to expand its voice technology platform designed for local languages.
Co-founder Hammad Malik said the idea emerged after a simple Urdu WhatsApp bot he built was adopted by hundreds within days. “Millions of Pakistanis are excluded from digital services because they cannot interact in their own languages,” he explained.
The company’s flagship model, Orator, currently supports Urdu, Sindhi, and Balochi, with Punjabi, Pashto, and Saraiki scheduled for rollout later this year. Early customers include Khan Academy, which used the technology to release 2,500 educational videos in Urdu, and Syngenta, which is deploying voice AI to assist farmers.
Malik noted that agriculture highlights the gap between language and technology. “Voice AI can transform productivity by giving farmers clear guidance in the language they understand,” he said.
Over $1 million of the funding will be spent locally to collect and label voice data across Pakistan’s diverse regions. Malik emphasized the company’s vision: “We want to be the best in the world for languages no one else wants to build for.”
