Rylo Secures $85 Million to End Communication Barriers for the Deaf

The project began as a college hack in 2019 at Columbia University when Aharoni realized he had no way to answer a phone call without assistance. Alongside co-founder Alon Ezer, he discovered that 48 million Americans with hearing loss were forced to rely on third-party stenographers for basic private communication. What started as a side project called Nagish evolved into a mission to bridge this gap, eventually earning the rare FCC certification required to operate as an accessible service. Unlike traditional relay services, Rylo uses proprietary AI to facilitate calls, a model that turned the company into one of only six US firms licensed for such communication.

Securing the funding required overcoming deep-seated skepticism from investors who dismissed the technology as a niche project. By partnering with the deaf community—including Head of Community Matt Sherman—the founders ensured the tools addressed actual user needs rather than perceived ones. With the new capital from backers like General Catalyst and Canaan, Aharoni plans to expand beyond telephone services into workplace accessibility and sign language translation. Despite the financial milestone, Aharoni notes that the greatest hurdle remains cultural: convincing millions of people who live with untreated hearing loss that they deserve and require these tools to participate fully in society.