Building From Within: Why Disabled Founders Are the Key to Inclusive Innovation

Startups have always been society’s sharpest tool for solving problems. But here’s the thing: they work best when those closest to the problem are the ones building the solution.

That’s why the next frontier of innovation won’t be led by the deaf, blind, and physically disabled communities, it will be led by them.

Too often, solutions are built from the outside in. Corporations run accessibility campaigns that don’t consult the people they aim to serve. Tech companies design “inclusive” tools without ever talking to someone who actually uses a screen reader or relies on adaptive hardware. The result? Missed needs. Broken features. Lip service instead of real progress.

But what if we flipped that model? What if we handed the keys to the people with lived experience, and gave them the resources, capital, and platform to build for their own communities?

“The best person to solve a problem is the one living it.” - Gregory Shepard

Let’s be honest: no accelerator in Silicon Valley can teach someone what it’s like to navigate a subway in a wheelchair. No product manager in a glass office can simulate the experience of being non-verbal in a verbal world. These aren’t theoretical challenges; they’re lived realities. And that makes disabled founders not just important voices, but essential leaders.

Startup Science believes that innovation doesn’t come from privilege; it comes from perspective. From necessity. From insight born of experience. And when it comes to designing solutions that truly work for disabled individuals, nobody is more qualified than disabled entrepreneurs themselves.

According to the World Health Organization, over 1.3 billion people, 16% of the global population, live with some form of disability. Yet disabled founders remain vastly underrepresented in the startup ecosystem. Funding is nearly nonexistent. Accessibility tools are still treated like “add-ons.” And very few startup programs even ask whether their systems work for people with disabilities.

This isn’t just a diversity gap. It’s a missed opportunity for better companies, better products, and a more inclusive future.

Startups led by disabled founders already exist, and they’re creating real change:

• Ava — a real-time transcription app co-created by a deaf entrepreneur

• Be My Eyes — a visual assistance platform powered by volunteers, used by over 250,000 blind individuals

• Neuralink — while controversial, is exploring direct brain-computer interfaces, with deep implications for mobility impairments

  
  

But we need thousands more. And we need an ecosystem that’s ready to support them, not just with good intentions, but with real infrastructure.

That’s where Startup Science comes in. We’re building the rails for an ecosystem where disabled founders don’t just participate, they lead. Where building for your own community isn’t a rare exception, it’s the norm.“

Disability is not a deficit. It’s an insight waiting to be scaled.” - Gregory Shepard

We provide the tools, curriculum, capital access, and marketplace needed to help overlooked founders build real companies, solve real problems, and create real value.

Because who else is going to solve the challenges these communities face,  if not the people living in them every day?

It’s time we stopped asking permission from the center, and started empowering the edges. That’s where innovation has always come from. That’s where it’s going next.