The founder had the idea for a multilingual keyboard after living in France and Germany and studying foreign languages. With $250, she moved to San Francisco to pursue her idea, living as a freegan and relying on friends for housing. With help from her father to build prototypes, she founded Polyglotte Inc. as a benefit corporation and released beta versions of the multilingual keyboard. The company has since developed a physical keyboard and is preparing a Kickstarter campaign.

1. STORY
#mystartupstory
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2. Life,
I know from experience...
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3. is a crooked street.
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4. My invention,
the olyKeyboard,
illustrates this truth.
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5. It sprang from a lucky accidentin my life’s journey...
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6. ...which has been a diverse
one geographically,
linguistically and culturally.
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7. The idea first came to me
a little after returning to
the U.S. from France and
Berlin, where I'd studied
the German language and
interned in art galleries.
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8. I thought:
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9. “Why are there so many
keyboard layouts in the world?”
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10. That's when it hit me.
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11. I would invent a multilingual
keyboard for polyglots, like
myself!
Daniela Semeco
Founder/CEO
Polyglotte Inc.
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12. © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

13. I had my heart set
on San Francisco.
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14. I'd never been to the
West or even seen the
Pacific Ocean, didn't know
anybody there—all I knew
was that I was destined to
go.
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15. I'd managed to sell some odds
and ends and come up with
$250.
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16. My dad thought I was crazy,
but finally agreed to buy me a
one-way ticket, (which was all he
could afford).
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17. On March 28 2011, I left for
San Francisco with $250 and a
dream.
Image courtesy of Riad Djabri © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

18. For two and a half months I rode
the couch-surfing wave before
settling into my own place in San
Francisco.
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19. Luckily, I had my dad...
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20. ...to show me how the
mind of a techie works.
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21. He built the first prototype
and installed it on my
computer.
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22. We worked for months improving
the product, and I was able to
add more and more languages.
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23. I was experiencing a lot of
challenges at the time.
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24. I'd embraced local politics and
become a freegan (someone who lives
for free).
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25. I’d hooked up with Food Not
Bombs and was eating for free,
putting every penny I made
towards the business.
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26. A local street kid
designed my first logo.
Image courtesy of Facebook© Polyglotte Inc. 2014

27. He was living on a roof
when I met him, and I
took him in and paid him
in food and beer. To
this day, he calls me
“Momma.”
#mommabear© Polyglotte Inc. 2014

28. I founded Polyglotte Inc.
as a benefit corporation
on Jan. 1, 2013.
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29. Shortly after, we were approved
by Legal Services for
Entrepreneurs, a program
offered by the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights.
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

30. Thanks to them, we now
have many pro bono
attorneys!
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31. On June 14 2013
we released the
beta version of our
product.
Image courtesy of Renee Jones© Polyglotte Inc. 2014

32. © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

33. We released our iPad app
on October 31st 2013.
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34. Now we've built a physical
keyboard!
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35. It’s been an adventure
bootstrapping and getting
to where we are today.
Image courtesy of Renee Jones© Polyglotte Inc. 2014

36. We're preparing a
Kickstarter campaign,
a launch party, and a
keyboard exhibit.
© Polyglotte Inc. 2014
Details to
be
announced!

37. Fb: Polyglotte_Inc
Instagram: polyglotte_inc
Twitter: polyglotte_sf
www.polykeyboards.com
© Polyglotte Inc. 2014