Four Nigerian graduates have launched Reedapt, an artificial intelligence-powered dubbing platform designed to help African filmmakers and digital creators translate films and video content into multiple languages while preserving cultural accuracy and emotional expression.
The startup was founded by Apotierioluwa Owoade, David Mac-Asore, Maryann Nnaji and Emmanuel Ibiang, who say the platform aims to make multilingual storytelling more accessible to Nollywood producers, churches and online creators seeking to reach audiences across different regions.
The idea for Reedapt grew out of Owoade’s experience working at Aforevo, a Lagos-based streaming and dubbing company. During his time there, he observed the high cost of dubbing productions into foreign and local languages, as well as the limitations of existing translation systems.
According to Owoade, dubbing a feature-length production into another language can cost more than $500,000, a figure that places professional dubbing beyond the reach of many African filmmakers and independent creators.
Reports say that Owoade became increasingly concerned about the poor quality of some AI-generated African-language translations, particularly those that failed to preserve meaning, tone, and cultural context in Yoruba dialogue.
To address the problem, Owoade partnered with software developer and computer engineering graduate David Mac-Asore. The team later expanded to include machine learning engineer Maryann Nnaji and product engineer Emmanuel Ibiang, both graduates of Covenant University in Ogun State.
The founders initially developed the technology under the name “Hagen Project” before rebranding the platform as Reedapt in 2025. Nnaji said her earlier work in sign language recognition research exposed her to the shortage of African-centred datasets in artificial intelligence development.
“When I started the project, it was just a way to actually see how technology could be a way of bridging this gap,” Nnaji said. “To prove something to myself that this is applicable.” The company said Reedapt uses AI-powered voice cloning and multilingual dubbing technology to improve translation quality and help preserve the emotional tone of original performances.
Mac-Asore said the startup’s broader mission is to help African stories gain global visibility without losing their authenticity. “We built Reedapt because African stories deserve to be heard in every corner of the globe, in every language,” he said. According to the company, the platform currently supports translation and dubbing in more than 50 languages.
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Industry observers say platforms like Reedapt could strengthen Nollywood’s international reach at a time when African technology startups are increasingly building AI tools tailored to local languages and cultures. The founders say their goal is to reduce the financial and technological barriers that have long limited the distribution of multilingual content by African creators.
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