Stamurai: How Anshul Agarwal is Codifying Speech Therapy to Solve Stuttering Globally
For millions of people who stutter, the world can feel like an intimidating place. Traditional speech therapy is often expensive, inaccessible, and carries a social stigma that makes seeking help difficult. Anshul Agarwal, Co-founder of Stamurai, knew this struggle intimately—he had stuttered since childhood. But it took a surprising revelation from his flatmate to spark a global revolution. Today, Stamurai is a mobile speech therapy clinic in the pockets of 50,000 users across 150 countries, codifying self-help techniques into a scalable, community-driven solution.
Anshul Agarwal’s entrepreneurial path is one of high-pedigree success. A graduate of IIT Delhi, Anshul had already built and exited two companies—one to Cognizant and another to Roundglass. Despite his professional success, his personal challenge with stuttering remained. In 2019, alongside his co-founders Meet Singhal and Harsh Tyagi, he launched Stamurai to ensure that no one has to navigate the complex journey of speech therapy alone.
The Flatmate Epiphany
The idea for Stamurai was born when Anshul’s flatmate, Meet, revealed that he also stuttered. Anshul was shocked—he had known Meet for years and never noticed. Meet had spent his college years researching and practicing self-therapy so effectively that his stutter was nearly invisible. They decided to take those manual techniques and "codify" them into an app, with Anshul becoming the very first user.
The Problem: The Inaccessibility of Speech Therapy
Speech therapy is traditionally a "manual" and "expensive" process. A person might spend $100 for a single session, requiring physical travel and face-to-face interaction that can be terrifying for someone who stutters. Furthermore, stuttering is situational—people often don't stutter when they are alone, but the anxiety of talking to others triggers the condition. Traditional tools lacked a "safe space" to practice real-world social interactions.
"There was a lot of pent-up demand," Anshul explains. "People were spending thousands on cabs and sessions, but they didn't have a daily training plan they could trust. We realized we could use technology to hand-hold users through the entire journey, 24/7."
The Solution: A Codified Speech Clinic
Stamurai is a comprehensive platform that combines AI-driven exercises, daily training plans, and a massive global community. It treats speech therapy as a habit-building process rather than a one-off medical treatment.
The Stamurai Recovery Path
- Instructional Modules: Users learn specific speech therapy techniques through simplified, non-technical videos.
- Daily Training Plans: The app tells the user exactly what to do each day—from reading exercises to meditation and technique practice.
- Safe-Space Community: A built-in social platform where users can practice talking with others who also stutter, removing the fear of judgment.
- Personalized Coaching: Personal speech therapy sessions for those who need assisted, human-led counseling.
Scaling Globally from India
One of the most remarkable aspects of Stamurai is its global reach. From its base in India, the app has gained traction in 150 countries. Anshul admits that building for a global, especially Western, audience from India was a challenge. They had to unlearn their technical jargon and simplify the language so that a user in any country could understand the product without a manual.
"We closed our funding round right as the lockdown started," Anshul recalls. "We hired our entire core team online and many of them we have still never met in person. But the mission to make a social impact in a sustainable way kept the team aligned."
Stamurai Scale & Impact
- 50,000+ Global Users: Serving a diverse community across 150 countries.
- 8,000+ Monthly Downloads: Growing primarily through organic word-of-mouth.
- Top Stuttering Community: One of the largest digital safe spaces for stutterers in the world.
- Sustainability First: A subscription model that allows for both social impact and business growth.
Lessons in Product Simplicity
Anshul is a firm believer in the power of simplicity. He shares a failure where they tried to add "gamification" with complex belt systems and points. "It made the product too complicated. Users didn't even notice the feature. We learned that every time you want to implement something, you must find the simplest way possible."
Refactoring the "Hacky" Product
In the early days, the team followed the "hack your way through" philosophy. However, as the frequency of app crashes increased, they realized that "later" never comes. "We had to stop and refactor a lot of code to allow us to scale. Technical debt is a real thing that will eventually break your product if you don't address it."
Founder's Lesson: The Impact Mindset
Anshul defines entrepreneurship as "making an impact on your own." Whether it's a traditional business or a high-tech app, if you are driven to change a life using your own resources and vision, you are an entrepreneur.
The Meaning of Entrepreneurship
For Anshul, being an entrepreneur is about taking the "100% belief in yourself" and turning it into a solution for others. He emphasizes that a co-founder's role is critical for decision-making—discussing pros and cons openly before taking a call. He also highlights the "compounding effect" of a subscription model, where renewals serve as the ultimate validation of product-market fit.
Stamurai is proving that the most powerful solutions often come from solving your own problems. By turning a personal struggle into a global platform, Anshul Agarwal and his team are ensuring that for the millions who stutter, their voices will finally be heard, clearly and confidently.
About the Guest
Anshul Agarwal is the Co-founder of Stamurai. An IIT Delhi alumnus, he is a serial entrepreneur with a track record of successful exits to global giants like Cognizant. Having stuttered since childhood, he combined his technical expertise with his personal experience to build a world-class speech therapy solution. Anshul is a passionate advocate for using technology to drive social impact and is a recognized leader in the Indian health-tech ecosystem.
Stamurai is a mobile-first speech therapy platform that helps people who stutter overcome their challenges through codified exercises, daily training plans, and a global support community. Based in India and serving a worldwide audience, Stamurai is democratizing access to effective speech therapy.