Disability-led innovation takes center stage at Purple Fest

Shraddha Agarwal’s SignSetu is an educational revolution. Nicknamed 'Duolingo for the Deaf,' the app teaches English using Indian Sign Language (ISL) through short, gamified lessons supported by images, animations, and videos. The app, which bridges worlds to make literacy accessible and joyful for the Deaf community, was among the finalists at the Pitch Fest at the International Purple Fest 2025 in Goa, a celebration of ingenuity born from lived experiences of persons with disabilities.

Eight applicants were picked from a pool of 36 entries from across the country to present their ventures before a diverse jury at the Pitch Fest, organized by Rising Flame in collaboration with the United Nations in India and Godrej Industries Group under the theme 'Lead Beyond Limits'.

In a world that still treats accessibility as an afterthought, the Pitch Fest offered a different plot: design for dignity, fund lived-experience leadership, and watch the market catch up. Innovation, it turned out, wasn’t happening despite disability. It was happening because of it.

“SignSetu empowers Deaf learners to read, write, and express themselves freely,” said Agarwal. “It’s about making learning visual, intuitive, and equal.”

Fellow innovator Raghu Duth Degala of Kaiteki Innovations demonstrated his company’s assistive restroom device, the Guko Bidet - a low-cost, universally designed add-on that can be installed on any toilet, enabling persons with disabilities and elderly users to clean themselves independently. “Accessibility should not depend on expensive renovations,” Degala said. “It should be affordable, elegant, and human.”
 

For Sourabh Yadav, innovation came from empathy. His startup Picstry AI turns photos into audio memories for the blind, allowing users to hear descriptions enriched with names, voices, and context. “A picture should be more than pixels,” he said. “It should tell a story that everyone can experience.”

The three winners - Raghu Duth Degala (Kaiteki Innovations), Sourabh Yadav (Picstry AI), and Shraddha Agarwal (SignSetu) - were awarded funding to scale their innovations.

Some of the other promising ideas at the fest included Advitiya Masale, founded by Satyaprakash Malviya, a social enterprise employs women and visually impaired workers in Kashi, ensuring that every packet carries both aroma and empowerment. 

Grailmaker Innovations introduced Spacefelt, a tool that uses simple QR codes to make public spaces accessible through audio, ISL videos, or text.

myUDAAN’s VGo wheelchair attachment converts a manual chair into a powered mobility device, while AccessPath maps real accessibility data for restaurants, offices, and public spaces.

And then came the cinematic curveball: Flop Films, introduced by producer Anand Vijay. Billed as India’s first Digital Video Agency - a union of ad agency strategy and production-house craft - it specializes in video campaigns, commercials, and entertainment. Its distinction is global: it is, probably the only creative agency in the world led by a legally blind producer. The pitch reframed risk as vision: who better to direct the industry toward inclusive storytelling than a leader who has navigated barriers most creatives never see.
 

One of the judges, Pichmony Thay, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead at Impact Hub Phnom Penh (Cambodia), said he was inspired by the ideas on display at the pitch fest. “Every pitch amazed me,” he shared. “People with disabilities think beyond convention because their experiences push them to. Accessibility should not be a luxury - it should be a norm. What I saw today is what real innovation looks like.”

For Nidhi Goyal, Founder and Executive Director of Rising Flame, the event was deeply personal and symbolic. “We called it Lead Beyond Limits because society too often sees persons with disabilities as people who need help, not as leaders,” she said. “But today, these entrepreneurs proved that they are not just participants in change - they are driving it.”

The event also underscored a growing movement: that inclusion is not just about access - it’s about leadership. Studies show that excluding persons with disabilities from the economy can cost nations up to 7% of their GDP, but inclusion generates not just profit, but perspective. “When leadership comes from the margins,” Goyal said, “it brings empathy, innovation, and strength that benefit everyone.”
 

Translated from UN News. Click here to read the story in Hindi.