Amsterdam’s ReadLer Secures €350K Funding To Boost Speaklee

Ludolf Stavenga, fund manager of the North Holland Innovation Fund, “ReadLer combines smart technology with social impact. Such applications are essential for the future of healthcare and education.”

The funding will advance the development of ReadLer’s digital speech assistant for children with language and speech disorders. The startup aims to expand access to speech therapy, helping create more equal opportunities for children to improve their communication skills.

Quint Wiersma, founder and CEO of ReadLer, says, “We are incredibly pleased with the support of the North Holland Innovation Fund! It enables ReadLer to dramatically accelerate the development of Speaklee, allowing Speaklee to support children with speech and language impairments in their development as quickly as possible. This brings us one step closer to an inclusive society and accessible speech therapy for every child.”

Founded by Quint Wiersma, Francisco Blasques, and Pascal Koot from the VU Demonstrator Lab, ReadLer is developing Speaklee, an AI-powered speech assistant that helps children practice pronunciation and vocabulary.

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The tool provides instant feedback and integrates with speech therapy exercises, enabling ongoing practice between sessions.

Targeted at children with provisional or confirmed language development disorders (SLD), Speaklee is developed in collaboration with speech therapists, healthcare providers, and special education schools through a B2B2C model. The app is currently available as a web application and will soon launch in app stores.

ReadLer partners with Auris, an organisation supporting children with hearing, speech, and language impairments, to create content and test Speaklee’s effectiveness. A professional validation process is underway to support potential reimbursement by health insurers.

Speaklee is a digital speech assistant designed to help children improve pronunciation and speech. Using machine learning, it analyzes speech at the phoneme level and provides instant feedback.

The tool guides users from phonemes to words, sentences, and texts, gradually increasing difficulty with speech therapy techniques. Gamified elements keep children engaged, while a dashboard lets therapists and parents track progress and assign exercises.

For speech therapists, Speaklee enables at-home practice, generates detailed reports on performance and common errors, and supports customised lesson planning. In classrooms, it allows students to practice independently, and parents can let children use the app autonomously while monitoring progress.

The Innovation Fund North Holland is a collaborative initiative involving the Province of North Holland, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, and Sanquin.

It offers convertible loans to entrepreneurs in the province during the Proof-of-Concept phase. The fund runs two programs: one for startups, supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and another for academic startups, backed by the European Regional Development Fund.

About Speaklee

Speaklee, developed by ReadLer, is an AI-powered speech assistant helping children with language, speech and hearing challenges improve reading and pronunciation. Its AI engine breaks words into individual sounds, analyzes each one, and delivers detailed feedback, enabling personalized practice and supporting progress in speech and language development.