Rylo Launches Next Chapter With $85 Million in New Funding to Expand AI Communication Tools for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rylo, the AI-powered communication platform built for and with the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, today announced $85 million in new funding, alongside the official launch of its new brand, evolving from Nagish to Rylo. To date, the company has raised over $100 million in financing.

The financing includes growth funding from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF), alongside new investment led by Canaan, with participation from existing investors Vertex Ventures and Contour. The new capital will accelerate Rylo’s mission to build the most reliable, accurate, and accessible communication tools for the 48 million Americans living with hearing loss. Starting with real-time captioning and sign language translation, Rylo plans to expand into a broader suite of AI-powered tools designed around how the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community actually communicates.

Originally founded in 2021 as Nagish, Rylo was built as an AI-powered, FCC-certified, free platform that makes communication accessible to everyone, everywhere. Fueled by significant growth in its user base, product offerings, and ambition, all coinciding with the rise of AI, the brand is entering its next chapter as Rylo, creating the foundation for reliable, accessible, and accurate communication. Rylo bridges “Relay” and “Rely” to deliver communication that users can count on.

“For decades, the communication industry treated Deaf and hard-of-hearing people as an afterthought, a compliance checkbox, a clunky relay service nobody actually wanted to use,” said Tomer Aharoni, CEO and Co-Founder of Rylo. “We started Rylo because that was unacceptable, and because the people living with it deserved better than what every major company was willing to build. This funding means we get to build all of it.”

The Rylo Phone app will continue to deliver the essential components that users depend on daily: real-time captioning and text-to-speech of phone calls and in-person communication, all done utilizing AI. This next stage for the brand took years of feedback and learning from its community to upgrade its communication solutions. Users will be introduced to new, unique, AI-powered features and tools such as workplace accessibility, network improvements, speaker characteristics, sentiment analysis, real-time fraud detection, and more—all built to bring an equivalent phone call experience for people with hearing loss.

“Rylo has built a product that clearly resonates with users by leveraging AI to address a critical and historically underserved need in communication accessibility,” said Andrew Ziperski, Partner at General Catalyst, Customer Value Fund. “The company has demonstrated strong momentum, and we’re excited to support the team with growth financing as they expand adoption and scale the platform to reach more users.”

With today’s shortage of certified ASL interpreters, the Deaf community faces an imbalance in reliable, accessible communication. To fill this gap, Rylo acquired Sign.mt in 2025, an AI company focused on real-time sign language translation. This strategic growth and dedicated research led to the development of Rylo Sign, an AI-powered sign language platform that will support translation between dozens of signed and spoken languages, powered by the latest research in the field. As the research-driven foundation for the brand's toolkit, Rylo Sign will continue to evolve, serving as a vital bridge between the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community and the hearing world.

The company’s growing suite of tools is designed to create a more equitable and independent communication experience, helping users better interpret tone, identify potential fraud or scams, and navigate conversations with greater confidence. As Rylo enters its next chapter, the company’s focus remains the same: building a future where accessible communication is seamless, reliable, and available to everyone.

To learn more about Rylo and stay updated on its latest innovations, please visit rylo.com.

About Rylo

Rylo is an AI-powered platform that offers private, real-time communication solutions for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. By removing barriers to communication and adhering to the highest regulatory and privacy standards, Rylo is transforming how individuals connect in personal, professional, and public settings, enabling truly accessible communication for everyone. Rylo has offices in New York and Tel Aviv.