The team building AbleSpeak in Nairobi
Tunga Innovation Ltd is a Nairobi company. We build AbleSpeak, voice control for people who can’t easily use a keyboard, mouse or screen, and before it we built data and AI tools for health care.
Our story
AbleSpeak was born in the Centre for Digital Language Inclusion (CDLI) training, facilitated by the Global Disability Innovation Hub. There we trained speech recognition models on non-standard speech, using Kenyan and Ugandan English datasets, and set out to put them to use in a real product.
CDLI gave us GPUs for training, expert mentors, hard-to-find speech datasets and the chance to test with real users. The GDI Hub and Senses Hub teams helped us validate AbleSpeak with users and plan its next steps, and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Advance programme helped move it from an early idea towards a validated product.
“Five years ago I used an assistive tool for five minutes and wanted to quit. The children I was testing it with had to use it all day.”
Our team
Derrick Lubanga
Co-Founder and CEO
MSc. Data engineer and researcher.
LinkedIn profile of Derrick Lubanga (opens in a new tab)
David Nene
Co-Founder and CTO
MSc. Software engineer, AI.
LinkedIn profile of David Nene (opens in a new tab)
Sharon Tonui
Co-Founder and COO
MSc. Data scientist and project manager.
LinkedIn profile of Sharon Tonui (opens in a new tab)
Graham Nyaberi
M&E and Learning Expert
MSc. International development impact expert.
LinkedIn profile of Graham Nyaberi (opens in a new tab)
Bessy Mukaria
Consultant
MSc. Research and business development.
LinkedIn profile of Bessy Mukaria (opens in a new tab)
Dr Amos Chege Kirongo
Mentor and Advisor
Head of CNEAT.
LinkedIn profile of Dr Amos Chege Kirongo (opens in a new tab)
Dr Betsy Muriithi
Mentor and Advisor
Research Fellow, iLabAfrica.
LinkedIn profile of Dr Betsy Muriithi (opens in a new tab)
Dr Kennedy Senagi
Mentor and Advisor
Researcher, AI and technology leader.
LinkedIn profile of Dr Kennedy Senagi (opens in a new tab)
From first test to today
2023: Three founders meet at Strathmore University
Derrick Lubanga, David Nene and Sharon Tonui start master’s degrees in Nairobi and begin building health tools together.
The team at the Meta Llama Impact Accelerator Jan 2026: Web navigation goes live
The free Chrome extension is published on the Chrome Web Store.
Web navigation in Chrome Jun 2026: Royal Academy of Engineering Advance 2026
Selected for the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships programme, run with the Global Disability Innovation Hub, and pitched AbleSpeak at the London residential.
Pitch Day at the Advance residential, London, 29 June 2026 Oct 2026: Computer control in beta
The Windows app is built and tested by our team, with exam mode built and not yet used in a real exam.
How we work
- Think big
- Every problem we work on affects many people. We build for scale from the start.
- Start small
- We ship working tools rather than perfect ones. Real users teach us what no whiteboard can.
- Act fast
- We move quickly, change things often, and stay close to the people we build for.
Work with us
Schools, partners and funders: we would like to hear from you.