Vu partnered with speech technologist Dr. Xavier Anguera to establish a company, launching ELSA Speak in 2016. Michael Ngo, ELSA's General Manager for the SEA Cluster and Taiwan, highlighted the app's capabilities. By harnessing AI and a vast database, ELSA Speak serves as an affordable personal English tutor, conveniently accessible via smartphones. It excels in pinpointing pronunciation errors at both word and sentence levels, offering users immediate and precise feedback to enhance their speaking skills.
"Recently, we've successfully developed & released two more powerful AI tools that bring users' English to the next level. One is ELSA AI, which lets users practice real-world roleplay conversations with AI and Speech Analyzer, which provides detailed feedback for any free-formed speeches". Ngo mentioned that these tools are not only capable of engaging in ongoing conversations with users without limitation of time and location, help to correct pronunciation and grammar, but also simulate specific scenarios, such as job interviews and business conversations, allowing users to practice before entering the actual events, enhancing their confidence.
ELSA's distinctiveness and benefits have attracted significant attention from a multitude of investors, including prominent venture capital firms from Silicon Valley, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Notably, Gradient Ventures, a renowned venture fund specializing in AI investments backed by Google, is among them. To date, ELSA has secured $50 million in funding and amassed over 50 million downloads globally, with subscribers spanning more than 195 countries worldwide.
Given its semiconductor and electronics industry supply chain, Taiwan's role in the global market is steadily escalating. This surge in international investment has heightened the demand for bilingual local employees. Additionally, Taiwanese companies seek experts proficient in English and possessing international mobility to navigate global supply chain expansion. ELSA acknowledges the burgeoning potential of the Taiwanese market and views it as a pivotal focus for future endeavors.
"And we see Taiwan has set a goal of becoming bilingual in Chinese and English by 2030. To achieve that goal, the Taiwanese government also urged educators and learners to leverage technology and AI for people to practice English with more effective, personalized, and engaging methodologies". Ngo added that, in addition to subscription service for individual users, collaborating with schools and businesses to provide English training solutions has always been one of the business models that ELSA values greatly.
As a successful startup, ELSA also shared its tips for operating a business with other entrepreneurs. " First, start with the big problem because if the problem you try to solve is too small or too niche, you won't be able to scale up", Ngo said. Second, stay agile, "As technology advances rapidly, it's crucial to constantly assess the market's response to your products and services, swiftly determine the necessary changes and what's your next step". Last but not least, "Always focus on the end user's experience. Building a cool product is good, but if nobody uses it or has no value, it's probably not going to be a viable business".
