VerbalizeIt was born out of the personal, unfortunate experiences of the founders during their international travels. Ryan Frankel was traveling in China when he fell sick beyond his wildest imaginations. Staggering to a local pharmacy, Ryan tried explaining what meds he needed. Unfortunately for him, the pharmacist did not speak a word of English. After trying unsuccessfully for several minutes, Ryan stumbled back to his hotel room without his meds, as sick as ever. During a business trip to Europe, Kunal Sarda had shared a few drinks with a random stranger at a Milan bar before boarding a train for Paris. In his cab ride from Gare de Lyon to his Parisian hotel, Kunal realized that all of his cash, credit cards and room key had been swiped by his new Milanese friend. Three months of French classes had not prepared our founder for what followed- a night of charades with the cab driver that ended in being dropped off at the wrong hotel with an expanded vocabulary of French expletives. Ryan and Kunal met at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and founded VerbalizeIt with the vision of ensuring that language is never a barrier in any conversation. VerbalizeIt is honored to be a TechStars alumnus.