NameCoach

NameCoach offers a technology-driven solution to the widespread issue of name mispronunciation, aiming to foster inclusivity and respectful communication. The company was founded in 2014 by Praveen Shanbhag, who was inspired to create the platform after witnessing his sister's name being mispronounced at her college graduation ceremony. This personal experience, coupled with his own lifelong encounters with his name being said incorrectly, highlighted the alienating effect of mispronunciation and motivated him to build a solution while completing his Ph.D. at Stanford.

The company operates on a B2B SaaS subscription model, serving over 300 organizations across the higher education, K-12, and corporate sectors. Clients include major universities and corporations like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Accenture. Revenue is generated through annual subscriptions, with the company reporting an annual recurring revenue of over $4 million and gross margins around 90%. The business targets any environment where clear and respectful communication is critical, such as sales departments, customer service centers, HR and recruiting, and healthcare.

NameCoach's core product is a platform that allows users to record the correct audio pronunciation of their names, which can then be embedded into various digital tools. The service integrates seamlessly with widely used platforms like Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Salesforce, and learning management systems such as Canvas. This allows individuals within an organization to easily access accurate pronunciations in their daily workflows. The platform employs a hybrid model, combining user-recorded audio with an AI-driven system that can generate pronunciations when a recording isn't available. This AI considers factors like nationality, ethnicity, and gender to provide contextually aware suggestions from its extensive database of names. The system also supports the inclusion of gender pronouns and phonetic spellings to further enhance respectful communication.

Keywords: name pronunciation, audio name, DEI, inclusion technology, edtech, corporate communication, Salesforce integration, Canvas integration, Microsoft Teams integration, HR tech, customer experience, sales enablement, SaaS, AI-powered communication, identity recognition, workplace belonging, commencement solutions, university technology, K-12 education tools, professional development