It’s logical that a virtual company would launch a virtual radio station.
In January, Minneapolis-based Serotek launched SamNet Radio (radio.samobile.net), an online radio station that offers podcasts and music as well as news of the latest assistive technologies and discussions about issues affecting the visually impaired. The service operates 24 hours a day, and includes news feeds from Reuters and other sources.
“We’ve created a place where people can come together in an environment that will encourage them to learn more about computing while raising awareness in the mainstream community about the needs of the blind,” says Mike Calvo, Serotek’s founder and CEO.
Serotek is becoming a top maker of software and other products to help the blind use computers and access the Internet. It’s best known for its System Access technologies, which allow users (including the elderly and those with limited dexterity) to use the Internet, read online books and newspapers, participate in social networking sites, and search for jobs. Once users type in the site address, System Access converts the content to speech. For those who have some vision, text can be enlarged as needed.
SamNet Radio grew out of SamNet, short for System Access Mobile Network, a Serotek-developed Internet community for the blind. For a yearly subscription rate, members get a wide range of services, including e-mail, blogs, news, movies, and an interactive forum. SamNet’s new “socializer” function allows users to log into Windows Live, Yahoo, and AIM (AOL’s instant messaging system), as well as social networks Twitter and Facebook.
Completely blind by age four, Calvo dropped out of high school after years of being told not to get his hopes up about succeeding in life and having administrators fail to order the Braille books he needed. He started a recording studio after leaving school, and later founded a company offering training and job placement to the blind. He founded Serotek in 2002.
Serotek’s work force consists primarily of blind technology users who operate from anywhere in the world. It’s based in Minneapolis because an acquaintance of Calvo’s, R. Michael Fox, had the infrastructure in place from another business he owned to provide space and administrative and other support. (Fox is now Serotek’s chief operating officer.) While Calvo lives in Florida, Serotek’s operations, accounting, marketing and administrative staff are in Minnesota. Product development, technical support, and customer service employees are located worldwide.
Serotek’s 2008 revenue was $1.2 million, a 59.4 percent increase year over year from 2007. What’s more, “we are far from saturating our market,” Calvo says.
