READING, Pa. — Two student entrepreneurs from Penn State Berks were recently invited to make a presentation on their startup company to Penn State President Eric Barron at Schreyer House for the president’s annual football tailgate event. Junior business major Ryan Morris, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer, and sophomore information sciences and technology major Tristan Morales, chief technology officer, presented Traduki Technologies, a tech startup that provides real-time language translation services for health care professionals and businesses.
Traduki Technologies was one of five companies showcasing the success of Penn State’s entrepreneurship program and the Langan LaunchBox at the tailgate. Representatives from each company had the opportunity to give a 90-second pitch to the President’s guests. “This was a great networking experience and much-needed exposure for the company,” said Morris.
“Penn State does a great job with providing opportunities for young entrepreneurs,” added Morales. The students were then escorted to Beaver Stadium to watch the football game from the president's box.
Traduki Technologies’ mission is to provide a convenient means for enhanced communication through translation. The company provides real-time language translation services for health care professionals and businesses that need to communicate specific content to their patients or clients.
Translation services are available via video chat, phone call, text message, and in person. Each translator is considered a partner and can work when they want, where they want. Traduki receives a portion of the fare during the time spent translating, while the rest goes directly to the translator through a digital payment system. By leveraging freelance translators, who must first pass a proficiency test, Traduki is able to reduce the cost of translation services and provide translation for multiple languages through any mobile device.
The concept for Traduki was first developed as a class project in the Entrepreneurial Mindset course in the fall of 2016 at Penn State Berks. The instructor, Abdullah Konak, encouraged the group to further pursue the business idea because he saw the value it could bring to the community. Konak and Sadan Kulturel-Konak have continued to mentor the team after the conclusion of the course.
Traduki Technologies further received support from the Flemming Creativity, the Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center, and additional support from the Langan LaunchBox at Penn State Berks.