display

There are issues that one doesn't like to talk about - disabilities, for example.

There are millions of people with disabilities in Germany, three percent of whom are congenital.

And especially children with learning difficulties have a hard time not being excluded from society.

Not only because they are supposedly "different".

But also because some of them find it difficult or impossible to express themselves verbally in the first few years.

This is where the two founders Maria Möller (27) and Laura Mohn (26) have been working with their Frankfurt start-up Talking Hands for two years.

As the name suggests, it's about speaking hands, a synonym for signing.

display

The entrepreneurs have two products: On the one hand, there are flip books with which children can learn words as signs.

This ranges from “mom” or “dad” to “love”.

The total of 100 flip books can be ordered individually or in sets via the start-up's website.

The complete set costs 250 euros.

On the other hand, they are developing an app that should make sign language learnable in a playful way - it should be a kind of Babbel or Duolingo for signs.

This is currently in beta and should be completed this year.

Customers, including young people and adults, should be regularly provided with new signs via a subscription model or purchases.

Teach children sign language in a playful way

Encouraging children, including those with Down's syndrome, to use sign language in language development is not new.

There are already numerous aids, such as index cards on which the signs are drawn.

display

But in an interview with “Gründerszene”, founder Möller says that it is difficult for children to use static images to learn a language that also lives from movement.

"We had the feeling that nobody had dealt creatively with how to teach children to sign," says Möller.

Founder Laura Mohn, whose sister has Down syndrome, gained experience in this area.

With the flip books from Talking Hands, the little ones experience the gestures as movement and as a game.

This makes it exciting for children without disabilities to use the product, says the founder, and means that the various parties come together in a playful way.

display

The legislature summarizes these efforts under the heading “inclusion” and has enshrined it in law for educational institutions such as daycare centers for several years.

This benefits the start-up, which, with its products, is one of the customers of daycare centers or their providers.

Because they have budgets that are earmarked for funding in this area.

“But we are still very far from an inclusive education system,” says Möller.

Talking Hands collapses during Corona

While the demand was very high at the beginning, the lockdown at the turn of the year and thus also the tense daycare situation in emergency operation "fudged" the start-up into the planning, according to Möller.

The purchases by daycare centers have meanwhile gone to zero.

Only private individuals would have purchased Talking Hands products during this period.

Two best sellers are the signs to "thank you" and "good luck".

But with possible corona easing, Talking Hands is hoping for more buyers.

So far, Möller and Mohn have financed their start-up from their savings.

The profit from the first edition will now be used to finance the second.

It is still unclear whether they will rely on banks or investors for further growth.

However, the first financiers have already expressed interest.

The start-up is looking for investors who are pursuing the same goal of promoting inclusion and not just looking at returns.

Before that, the founders studied communication design, which is where the idea for Talking Hands originated.

For her current job as an entrepreneur, however, she hardly gained any prior knowledge there.

“The learning curve over the last few months has gone 90 degrees upwards,” says Möller.

“I never learned that much at school or university.” For example, how to set up a website or an online shop.

Next, the founders have to master the topic of sales, previously the growth worked through word of mouth and appearances in high-reach media such as "Bild" or RTL.

The next level should now be reached with social media, the development of communities and contact with daycare providers.