Kardome Places First in Reinhold Cohn Group Startup Competition

Kardome wins for its AI-driven source separation and noise-reduction technology that gives accurate, real-time voice command input and audio output in any environment.

We are proud to announce that Kardome has won first place in the Reinhold Cohn Group Startup Competition 2021.

The Reinhold Cohn Group (RCG) holds the annual Startup Competition to discover scalable technological solutions that address various challenges by connecting global organizations and innovative startups.

Over 160 startups applied to the competition. Thirty-two semifinalists pitched their technology in the areas of industry 4.0, media and telecom, healthcare, and automotive and mobility. Eight companies made it to the finals: CoreTigo, PicUP, BioXtreme, Saccade Vision, VIIEvents, TuneFork, Click-Ins, and Kardome.

“It is wonderful to receive this positive feedback from such an experienced panel of judges,” Kardome CEO Dani Cherkassky said. “Many thanks to Reinhold Cohn Group for hosting the event and providing the opportunity to share Kardome's Voice User Interface technology. We also express many thanks to all the sponsors of the competition. Above all, a huge thanks to the Kardome team for doing the hard behind-the-scenes work to change the way humans interact with machines.” 

In his pitch, Cherkassky talked about how the use of voice interaction devices in all areas of life has grown exponentially, and Voice AI will soon become the dominant interface between humans and machines. 

But the problem of noisy backgrounds and multiple speakers degrades the experience of using voice assistants, speech transcription software, and other VUI devices. Cherkassky also noted that the onus is on the consumer to create a quiet environment so voice interaction devices can hear them accurately. The low-quality VUI experience frustrates users, which reduces trust and engagement levels.

Kardome’s technology allows VUIs to work in real life, where there are multiple sounds and multiple speakers. 

“Our software makes voice technology work for people,” Cherkassky said.

Kardome’s AI-driven source separation and noise-reduction technology gives accurate, real-time voice command input and audio output in any environment. The location-based, speech-clustering technology treats each person in a multi-speaker environment as if they are the only person talking. Kardome’s noise reduction module reduces background noise in any challenging sound environment, whether it’s road noise while driving a car or in a crowded cafe.

The Reinhold Cohn Group (RCG) is the earliest and leading Intellectual Property consulting firm in Israel, representing Israel’s most promising startups and leading multinational corporations for over 85 years. 

Judges in the finals competition included Orey Gilliam CEO RCG; Ehud Hausman, Patent Attorney, Advocate Head of Hi-Tech practice at RCG; Laly David, Partner Head of Business Development, OurCrowd; Yoav Tzruya, General Partner JVP; Jason Feist, VP Engineering Emerging Products and Solutions at Seagate Technologies; Barthold Veenendaal, SVP Innovation Schneider Electric, Yair Laron, Director, Services to Startups (EGC), Co-Leader Deloitte Catalyst.

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