Navana Tech | Mobile for Development
The GSMA Innovation Fund Navana Tech

Navana Tech

India | Digital Inclusion

The company

Navana Tech builds text-free, image-based and voice-assisted technology for low literacy smartphone users.

 

The problem

Smartphone apps are text-dependent, primarily in English, resulting in accessibility and usability challenges for low-literate, vernacular speaking internet users. Challenges are amplified in apps where money is involved, such as e-commerce and financial services. Because of this, there is a noticeable difference in app drop-off and user retention rates between urban and rural users.

GSMA project

In March 2021, Navana Tech received a GSMA grant to develop a conversational voicebot in multiple Indian languages (Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada) and launch financial services and e-commerce use cases. Its conversational AI voicebot enables digital actions through two-way conversations.

Outcomes

Launch of a generative AI voicebot available in 11 of the 22 official languages in India that enables users who are not digitally literate and who do not speak English to access services.

Founder
A man with short black hair and a beard is smiling at the camera. He is wearing a light pink shirt and standing against a wooden background.

Jai Nanavati 

Team | 11–50 employees

Eight people are posing for a group photo in front of a wall with the Microsoft logo. Three are sitting on a bench in the front row, while the other five stand behind them. The group appears to be in an office environment.

Grant status
Completed
Themes
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion
Donor(s)
SDGs impacted
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Reduced Inequalities
Return to portfolio