Maidenhead start-up offers lifeline to injured servicemen rowing the Atlantic

A Maidenhead start-up has provided ‘groundbreaking’ real-time translation technology to a team of British and Ukrainian injured servicemen who are rowing the Atlantic.

Former Royal Marine Lee Spencer set a Guinness World Record as the first physically disabled person to row solo and unsupported across the Atlantic, after surviving a life-changing injury.

Now he is leading a crew of wounded servicemen to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to raise vital funds for Ukraine – an endeavour known as Row4Ukraine.

Everyone in the team is wounded, injured or sick (WIS) – Lee has one leg and his fellow Brit, Andy Merry, has multiple sclerosis. Pavlo Bilous and Ivan Gavrylko are the two Ukrainians in the four-man team.

Row4Ukraine’s mission is to raise awareness of the human cost of the war in Ukraine borne by Ukrainian service personnel.

It also seeks to celebrate the comradeship between Ukrainian and British WIS and raise much needed funds for Ukrainian service personnel rehabilitation.

Lee and his crew set out on Saturday and will be rowing unsupported for around 50–60 days from Gran Canaria to Barbados.

This poses a significant challenge, because the crew members are not all able to speak the same language.

In Lee’s words, this endeavour – which is ‘incredibly physically demanding and emotionally draining’ for someone able-bodied, let alone disabled – is made harder by not sharing a common language.

Speaking shortly before setting out, Lee said: “There’s going to be times when we need to communicate quickly and safely, to avoid danger – and times when your emotions will build up.

“Not being able to communicate how you feel, any perceived grievances, will lead to a deterioration in team spirit. Team spirit is what’s going to get us across, so being able to communicate is incredibly important.”

PixselChat is a new, real-time translation software that allows communication in hundreds of languages, made by Maidenhead start-up Pixsellar Ltd, headquartered in Bridge Street.

Using this technology, the Pixsellar team made a special app for the rowers that does not need to connect to the internet to work.

“[Now] we’ll be able to communicate quite complicated instructions to each other,” said Lee. “That just would not be possible without PixselChat.”

He thanked the team for all their ‘hard work’ in getting the technology to them at the start line.

Dr Sepi Chakaveh – data scientist, AI practitioner and CEO of Pixsellar – said it was an honour to aid the challenge.

“They heard about my technology and asked if they could use it, because they can’t at all communicate with each other – two speak only English, two speak only Ukrainian,” she said.

“They were delighted, because before that they were pointing and shouting – obviously not ideal if they’re stuck in the middle of the Atlantic ocean with no support whatsoever.”

She also thanked Printique printers in Maidenhead for ‘very quickly’ printing and donating PixselChat logos for the rowers to put on their boat.

Row4Ukraine is partnered with The Royal Marines Charity (RMA-TRMC), which is helping with logistics and financial oversight.

Every penny raised will go directly to the INVICTUS Games Foundation (IGF), ringfenced for Ukrainian WIS to enable rehabilitation through sport and adventure and RMA-TRMC, split 90/10 in favour of the IGF.

To donate, visit:  https://invictusgamesfoundation.enthuse.com/pf/row4ukraine