Pakistan-based startup Uplift AI has raised $3.5 million in seed funding to expand the adoption of voice technology across developing markets, with a strong focus on regional and underrepresented languages.
The round was backed by Y Combinator, Indus Valley Capital, Pioneer Fund, Conjunction Capital, and Moment Ventures.
Founded by Zaid Qureshi and Hammad Malik, former engineers at Apple and Amazon, Uplift AI is building voice AI models for regional languages such as Urdu, Punjabi, and Balochi, enabling people to interact with technology simply by speaking in their native language.
The company’s flagship model, Orator, delivers human-like Urdu speech.
Uplift AI reports growing adoption among developers and small businesses, with over 1,000 developers already using its APIs. Use cases range from students building FIR registration bots to entrepreneurs deploying voice-based health intake systems for rural clinics.
Highlighting the broader economic impact of voice-first technology, Uplift AI CEO Hammad Malik emphasized the company’s mission in a statement to Business Recorder:
“Voice technology has the potential to uplift our entire GDP by giving everyone access to knowledge and opportunity. We founded Uplift AI to make this happen now, rather than in the distant future.”
Solving the Voice AI Gap in Regional Languages
While voice AI has made significant progress globally, most advancements remain centered on English and a handful of widely spoken languages. Uplift AI aims to change that by building voice systems optimized for regional languages spoken across Pakistan and similar markets, many of which lack sufficient digital data.
The company is tackling a set of technical and operational challenges that are rarely addressed at scale. Addressed by the Uplift AI CEO, Hammad Mailk,
We have many very interesting technical problems to solve:
- Gathering millions of hours of data that is not on the internet.
- Creating a workforce of 10,000+ people who can type regional languages.
- Making the models more natural while reducing cost.
- Integrating deeply into 100s of daily-use applications.
According to the founders, these challenges would typically be handled by multiple specialized startups, but Uplift AI is addressing them under one unified platform due to the lack of focus on smaller languages globally.
A Growing Team with Global Backing
Uplift AI is currently expanding its team and is actively seeking senior talent to lead individual verticals. The founding team operates out of San Francisco, while maintaining a strong execution focus on Pakistan and other emerging markets.
In addition to institutional investors, the founders highlighted early support from angel investors, many of whom were personal connections who backed the company at an early stage before traction was fully established.
The Bigger Picture
Uplift AI’s funding round reflects a broader shift in AI development toward inclusion, localization, and real-world utility. As voice interfaces continue to gain traction globally, solutions built specifically for emerging markets and regional languages are increasingly seen as the next major growth frontier.
With fresh capital and a focused mission, Uplift AI aims to play a central role in shaping how voice technology scales beyond the English-speaking world.