The app was inspired from the members’ personal experience when booking a taxi online. They once got a deaf driver who was accompanied with his daughter to help communication with passengers. Hear Me comes as a solution to help communication between listener and deaf people and close the communication gap, decrease discrimination, provide disability-friendly facility, and promote equal rights for people with disabilities.

Hear Me started in 2019. Using this application, we only need to record the voice when we communicate with deaf people, and the app will subsequently process the voice to sign language animation.

For the app, Athalia and friends earn a number of awards, such as the 2nd place in Swiss Innovation Challenge, Best Innovation in Bandung Pitching Days, and the winner of The Diplomat Success Challenge (DSC) X 2019.

Athalia Mutiara Laksmi as the CEO of Hear Me said that they are motivated to participate in various competitions because at the beginning Hear Me needed capital for the business, build relations, add more experience, gain insights, and learn about future business. One of the most memorable competition they ever competed in is DSCX 2019. It was a competition that gave opportunity to win a total of 2 billion rupiahs, supports, and educations for Indonesian youth who are brave enough to be entrepreneurs.

Preparing for the competition, Atha had to learn fast and work hard as to catch up with other participants and do the challenges with satisfying results.

“Every night I have to do evaluation and apply insight from new materials I received that day. I also had to practice presentation every time,” she said. She did all that to win competition from other 12,000 participants of DSCX in a difficult competition. They finally become the winner and won the grand prize of 250 million rupiahs.

“I am grateful, proud, and relieved that I can win the two years mentorship and the 250 million rupiahs,” Atha said while smiling.

Atha hopes that in the future, Hear Me will make more progress using the money they got from winning the DSCX 2019. They want to implement their ideas and help deaf people to communicate.

Reporter: Elisabeth Sirumapea (Management 2020)