CDIAL
AI for Africa's Indigenous Languages
About CDIAL
CDIAL is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to digitizing indigenous African languages and democratizing digital access for over 1 billion Africans. The organization, founded in 2021 by Yinka Iyinolakan, Soji Akinlabi, and Shona Olalere, aims to empower local communities by providing inclusive AI-powered tools for education, healthcare, business, and trade. Their mission is to bridge digital divides by localizing technology and enabling access in native African languages.
CDIAL launched Indigenius, an innovative conversational AI platform supporting over 180 African languages, as well as a smart keyboard and digital dictionary for contemporary native terms. These products are designed for businesses to deploy chatbots, customer support, translation, copywriting, and other solutions in low-resource languages. Their proprietary NLP models are crowd-sourced and fine-tuned through continuous research and feedback sessions.
With offices in Lagos and Los Angeles, CDIAL is recognized for trailblazing work in language accessibility and was selected for Google’s Africa accelerator and awarded $50,000 from the Pharrell Williams Black Empowerment Fund. The company is backed by expert linguists and strives to create a more inclusive technological ecosystem for Africa’s diverse linguistic landscape.
Discussion
Product Demo Video
Investors
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Pharrell Williams Black Empowerment Fund
$50,000
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Google Africa Accelerator
Accelerator program
People
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Yinka Iyinolakan
Co-founder and CEO of CDIAL, leading the mission to digitize indigenous African languages and democratize digital access for over 1 billion Africans.
- Founder & CEO of CDIALnAI and NLP specialistnFocused on African language technology
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Soji Akinlabi
Co-founder of CDIAL, working on building inclusive AI tools for indigenous African languages and enabling digital access for local communities.
- Co-founder of CDIALnAI and language technology expertnFocused on African language digitization
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Shona Olalere
Co-founder of CDIAL, dedicated to creating innovative language technology solutions that bridge digital divides for African communities.
- Co-founder of CDIALnLanguage technology innovatornCommitted to African language accessibility
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Grace Idowu
Partnerships & Policy Associate at CDIAL, working on strategic partnerships and policy initiatives to expand access to African language technology.
- Partnerships & Policy AssociatenStrategic partnerships developmentnPolicy and advocacy for language tech