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    <title>Ona AI News &amp; Blog</title>
    <link>https://ona-ai.com</link>
    <description>Latest news, technology releases, and insights on real-time sign language avatars, accessibility datasets, and inclusive education AI from Ona AI.</description>
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    <lastBuildDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2026 11:41:05 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <title>We graduated from Halcyon!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/9cUe52IaXke98Cxn9xuC</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:59:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, we marked a very important milestone: graduating from the 2026 Halcyon EquityTech Accelerator.

Over the past few months, this experience has challenged us to think beyond the technology we are building and focus equally on becoming the kind of company capable of delivering lasting impact. Through the accelerator, we received rigorous training across many of the realities of building an EdTech startup, from fundraising and business strategy to founder leadership, customer discovery, scaling operations, and working effectively across cross functional teams.

One of the most valuable parts of the journey was learning alongside ten carefully selected EdTech startups from around the world. Although we came from different countries and were solving different challenges, we were united by a shared belief that education can be transformed through innovation. The conversations, feedback, and friendships built throughout the programme are something I will carry with me for a long time.

The programme also opened doors to opportunities that continue to shape Ona AI today. We received specialised consulting from Deloitte, AWS credits that are powering the development of several of our AI products, and practical fundraising training that we have already put into practice to secure our first major investment. Those experiences have strengthened not only our technology, but also the way we think about building a sustainable and globally competitive company.

A sincere thank you to the entire Halcyon team, the advisors, mentors, speakers, and everyone who invested their time, knowledge, and encouragement throughout this journey. Thank you for believing in founders tackling complex challenges and for creating an environment where ambitious ideas are challenged, refined, and strengthened.

This graduation is not the finish line. It is the beginning of the next chapter for Ona AI. We leave this programme with greater clarity, stronger partnerships, and renewed confidence in our mission to build the digital infrastructure for African Sign Languages and make AI more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing communities.


#Halcyon #EquityTech #EdTech #ArtificialIntelligence #Accessibility #InclusiveAI #Startup #SocialImpact #OnaAI]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>One, set, pitch!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/BU716nZjsklbrApIFsTs</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:13:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, Ona AI was among the startups selected to pitch at the African Leadership University East Africa Alumni Summit in Nairobi. This time, our Operations Manager, Eugene Kuzera, had the opportunity to represent our team on stage.

Watching that moment reminded us of another important milestone in our journey, when we pitched as part of the Meta Llama Impact Accelerator.

Looking back, we have realised that some of the biggest milestones in building Ona AI have not happened after the pitches. They have happened because of them.

Every time we step onto a stage, we are challenged to explain our vision with greater clarity. We are asked difficult questions about our technology, our strategy, our impact, and our long term vision. Those conversations push us to think more deeply about what we are building and why it matters.

The feedback we received during the Meta Llama Impact Accelerator became a turning point for our team. It challenged us to rethink our product strategy, sharpen our focus, and ultimately shaped many of the products and initiatives we have spent the past several months developing.

The African Leadership University Summit gave us another opportunity to test those ideas. We were able to present our latest work, receive thoughtful questions from experienced judges and fellow founders, and better understand how different audiences perceive the challenges we are working to solve. Every conversation gave us something valuable to take back into our product, our strategy, and our vision.

We are incredibly grateful to share that Ona AI was awarded 1st Place in the pitch competition.

While we celebrate the recognition, we are even more excited about what comes next. The funding, mentorship, partnerships, and relationships that begin through opportunities like these often create far more lasting impact than the few minutes spent on stage.

A sincere thank you to the African Leadership University community, the organisers, judges, fellow founders, and everyone who challenged our thinking and encouraged our vision.

Every pitch leaves us with more questions, better ideas, and a stronger team.

Onto the next stage!]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>Lessons from India!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/KdcqT1QVCeepnjP8luxV</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:56:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Picture this: you’re in a new country. Conversations are flowing around you. Signs fill the streets. Announcements are being made. People seem to move through their day effortlessly. Meanwhile, you’re constantly piecing together context, relying on gestures, fragments of familiar words, and the help of others to understand what’s happening around you.

That was much of our experience during a recent immersion trip across parts of India.

What began as a language challenge quickly became something else. It gave our team a small glimpse into a reality that many learners experience every day when the way they communicate is not fully reflected in the systems designed to help them learn.

Over the past few weeks, we had the opportunity to visit institutions working in special education and inclusive learning. What stayed with us most was not only what was happening inside classrooms, but how educators, parents, caregivers, and communities worked together to support each learner’s unique needs.

As we prepare to expand Ona AI beyond Kenya, these experiences have been invaluable. They challenged us to listen more carefully, question our assumptions, and think more deeply about how accessibility looks across different cultures, languages, and learning environments.

The best accessibility solutions are rarely built in isolation. They emerge from spending time with the people they are meant to serve and understanding the realities they navigate every day.

India reminded us that if we want our technology to meet learners where they are, we first have to be willing to meet them there ourselves.

#OnaAI #AssistiveTech #Accessibility #Learning #Schools ]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>We were featured at the United Nations STI Forum</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/07RtghyBEOD6MbsYPHGX</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 11:28:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[A few years ago, while teaching at a public primary school in Nairobi, a question began shaping what would eventually become Ona AI:

What would education look like if digital learning systems were built around everyone from the very beginning?

Today, we are grateful to share that Ona AI was featured in the United Nations Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Forum Solutions Book 2026.

For a project that started in Kenya with a focus on making learning and communication more accessible for learners with special needs, this recognition means a great deal. The United Nations has long championed the idea that development should leave no one behind. Seeing our work featured within a forum advancing the Sustainable Development Goals reminds us that accessibility belongs at the center of conversations about the future, not at the margins.

There is still a long road ahead, but moments like this give us confidence that the work matters.

We are grateful to everyone who has been part of the journey so far and excited about what comes next.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>We were invited to pitch in Berlin</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/obWbn9RvD1nzneYa9Qzg</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:37:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[We are pleased to share that out of 20,000+ startups worldwide, Ona AI was selected among 40 companies to pitch at the Berlin Regional Finals of Pitch by Deel, presented by J.P. Morgan.

The program brought together a strong cohort of global founders, offering a platform to compete for seed funding and advance toward the global finals stage for investment.

We are especially grateful to our co-founder, Lesalon Steven, who represented Ona AI in Berlin. His leadership and execution on the ground were instrumental throughout the program.

Beyond the pitch, the experience offered meaningful exposure to the European startup ecosystem and sharpened our understanding of how to strengthen and scale key parts of our business. We also launched on Product Hunt during this period, opening our work to a global community and generating valuable engagement and feedback from founders, investors, and builders across markets.
]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>Insights from a  day spent with one of our partner schools</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/O1fJuIIY5rtpLUbwAqZ5</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:36:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Recently, some members of the Ona AI team traveled to Makueni County to visit one of the schools where our platform is being integrated. We spent time with the students and teachers who, over the past few months, have been testing different features of our solution, and we worked closely with them to understand how well the platform is meeting their needs.

Outside the long hours spent building the software powering Ona AI, the most important work happens in real classrooms. It happens in the spaces where teachers and learners have, for decades, carried the weight of exclusion from education systems that were never designed with them in mind.

Being able to observe classes as they happen and hear directly from learners and educators gives us something no office or screen ever can: honest feedback. It helps us understand which parts of our real-time sign language avatars and accessibility tools are working, where they can be improved, and what challenges still remain.

These visits make our work sharper, more practical, and more grounded in the realities facing learners not only in Kenya, but across similar communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be doubling down on our work with more schools and communities. If you are a teacher, learner, parent, school leader, or simply someone who cares about inclusion, we would love to connect and explore how Ona AI could support the people and communities in your network.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>We visited Gallaudet University, the leading university for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/JjY7RfJ1TiJfw7ayLtwx</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:34:07 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[One conversation with another founder in the 2026 Halcyon EquityTech cohort during our residency in Washington, D.C., led to an experience I will never forget: visiting Gallaudet University.

Globally recognized as the leading university for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners, Gallaudet has played a defining role in advancing and popularizing American Sign Language and deaf education around the world. Walking through the campus gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in an environment where accessibility is not an afterthought, but the foundation on which everything is built.

From hallways with engaging posters and visual communication systems to the way students interact, learn, and lead, every part of the university reflected what becomes possible when deaf learners are given the resources they deserve. Seeing the range of support and opportunities available in a setting like this gave me a new perspective on what true inclusion can look like.

It also made me think deeply about what is still missing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, where Ona AI is building real-time sign language avatars and accessibility-focused AI tools for learning. The visit sharpened our belief that learners everywhere deserve the same chance to participate fully, regardless of where they are born.

As we continue building the future of inclusive technology through Ona AI, experiences like this make our vision more concrete and remind us exactly why this work matters.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>Our research paper got accepted to the 20th Africa Young Graduates and Scholars Conference (AYGS)</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/TKs3Dbw5lvEOtRjZeLBS</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:31:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <description></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[March 2026 was monumental for Ona AI.

We were honored to have our research paper accepted for presentation at the 20th Africa Young Graduates and Scholars Conference, hosted by the University of Mpumalanga in South Africa and organized by the Human Sciences Research Council.

Our work focuses on making education truly inclusive, beginning with deaf and hard-of-hearing learners through real-time sign language avatars and accessibility-focused AI. While we have invested in building and testing these solutions with learners, schools, and communities in Kenya and beyond, we have also been searching for ways to contribute meaningfully to the academic and research conversation around inclusive education.

Having our work recognized in such a credible academic space is deeply meaningful. It gives us the opportunity not only to share what we are building, but also to strengthen it through dialogue with researchers, educators, and experts from across Africa who have spent decades working on the very challenges we are trying to solve.

The conference has reminded us that inclusive innovation cannot happen in isolation. It requires research, lived experience, collaboration, and the willingness to keep learning.

We are deeply grateful to the AYGS Committee and the Human Sciences Research Council for creating this platform and for giving us the opportunity to stand alongside other young Africans sharing ideas, research, and solutions that can shape the future of our continent.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>We got into the Haclyon EquityTech Accelerator!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/jx1LjoJTdqzJiyKQyLXU</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:28:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>And we couldn&apos;t be more excited to join such a diverse and talented cohort!</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[We are excited to share that Ona AI has been selected as part of the 2026 Halcyon EquityTech Accelerator cohort!

We are honored to be one of 10 startups from around the world chosen for this year’s program. Alongside nine other incredible founders building solutions across the education equity landscape, we have spent the last few weeks learning, challenging our thinking, and strengthening the foundation of our work.

Through our first residency in Washington, D.C., we took part in sessions on fundraising, leadership, technical development, and peer case consultations. Some of the most valuable moments came through the investor bowling sessions, investor meetups, and candid conversations with fellow founders and mentors. These experiences gave us the chance to build meaningful relationships not only with investors, but also with a global network of people committed to expanding access and opportunity through technology.

As we continue building the future of digital inclusion through our real-time sign language avatars for learning platforms and other accessibility-focused AI tools, we are excited to apply everything we have learned through the accelerator to strengthen our product, deepen our partnerships, and scale our impact.

A huge thank you to Halcyon, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Deloitte, and every facilitator, mentor, and partner who has made this experience possible. Your support is helping startups like ours build a more equitable future for education.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>Celebrating the International Day of Education</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/uYbHIg8jYSOPYI3kUZuI</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:24:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Today, we celebrate something very close to us - learning!</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Today, on the International Day of Education, we are reminded that education, whether formal or informal, has the power to reshape lives, communities, and entire systems. In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, learning no longer happens only in classrooms. It happens on screens, across borders, and at every stage of life.

At Ona AI, we have taken it as our mission to ensure that these digital learning spaces are inclusive by design. We believe accessibility is not an add-on, but a foundation for meaningful learning, especially for learners who have historically been left out of digital education.

As we mark this day, we feel a deep sense of hope and responsibility. Hope in the growing commitment of international bodies, educators, technologists, and policymakers who are working to expand access to quality education. Responsibility to keep building systems that give every learner a fair shot at understanding, participation, and opportunity.

The future of learning is digital. It must also be equitable.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>AWS-Deloitte Social Entrepreneur Accelerator</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/9ZDpP9MCAEfpAMgszWoJ</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:23:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>We were invited to be part of the 2025 SEA cohort!</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[What happens when 77 social entrepreneurs, representing 49 organizations across 24 countries and 5 continents, come together under one roof?

We had the opportunity to find out after being invited to participate in the AWS & Deloitte Social Entrepreneur Accelerator (SEA) this November at the AWS Skills Centre in Seattle, Washington.

Over three intensive days, we engaged in deeply meaningful conversations and hands-on workshops covering areas critical to our growth as an edtech startup, from investment readiness and fundraising to product–market fit and technical training aimed at strengthening our cloud capabilities and refining our business model.

One of the most powerful experiences was sitting at the same tables with founders of other edtech startups from around the world; people who have walked the exact paths we are currently navigating, and whose work is already creating tangible impact in the lives of their users. That shared honesty, perspective, and peer learning was invaluable.

We’re grateful to the SEA Accelerator team, AWS, and Deloitte for including us in this year’s cohort. We left the program with renewed energy, sharper clarity, and laser focus on the work ahead.
]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>Meta Llama Impact accelerator</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/xjbUcdXZEhRsg5JOUHD3</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:21:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>We were part of the 10 startups selected to be part of the 2025 Meta Llama Impact Accelerator</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[As we reflect on the year, we are thrilled to share that Ona AI was selected as one of just 10 startups in this year’s Meta Llama Impact Accelerator, a program dedicated to supporting startups in building scalable, socially impactful AI tools and advancing the adoption of open-source AI solutions.

Over six intensive weeks, our team engaged in rigorous training across technical development, business strategy, and financial management, while benefiting from mentorship that sharpened our vision and execution. The journey culminated in a pitch ceremony in Nairobi, where we showcased the progress and promise of our work.

As we continue to shape the future of digital learning assistive technology powered by Generative AI, opportunities like this give us the chance to learn from industry leaders and collaborate alongside peers who are also creating meaningful impact across the continent.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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      <title>We won Gold at the QS Reimagine Education Awards!</title>
      <link>https://ona-ai.com/blog/JuLmVDygsTSKPHK3uD3N</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 02:36:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>We were honored to received the Gold Award for access, diversity and equity in education at the QS Reimagine Education Awards in London, 2025.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[As we settle into the second week of work in 2026, there is a quiet but powerful energy running through our team. It is the kind of energy that comes from knowing exactly why you show up every day, and feeling newly affirmed that the work truly matters.

In December 2025, in London, we were honored with the Gold Award for Advancing Access, Diversity, and Inclusion in Learning at the QS Reimagine Education Awards. This recognition means more to us than a moment of celebration. It speaks directly to the heart of what we have been building. Through long days and nights, we have been working to make digital learning more accessible through our sign language avatars and inclusive datasets, often far from the spotlight, guided by the needs of learners who are too often overlooked.

What makes this award especially meaningful is the journey behind it. Our work was examined across four rigorous evaluation rounds by more than 1,300 education experts from around the world. Every step forced us to be clearer, stronger, and more grounded in evidence. Coming through that process reminded us that accessibility is not a side project. It is central to the future of learning.

As we look ahead, our vision for 2026 has never felt sharper. We are focused on execution, grounded in purpose, and incredibly excited about what is taking shape. We cannot wait to share more of what we have been building very soon.]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Ona AI</dc:creator>
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