Ghanaian-British engineer Danny Manu and his company, Mymanu, built CLIK, a pair of wireless earbuds that translate dozens of languages in real time—without ever needing an internet connection.
From Aerospace Engineer to Language Pioneer
According to public records, Danny Manu was born on December 5, 1988, in London to Ghanaian parents and grew up in Manchester, England. Before entering consumer technology, he studied aerospace and sound engineering at Oxford Brookes University and worked as an aerospace engineer and music producer.
In 2014, Manu founded Mymanu, a UK-based audio technology company, driven by a simple but powerful dream: to make language barriers a thing of the past. His inspiration was personal. Having grown up in Ghana, where more than 80 languages are spoken, he understood deeply the frustration of not sharing a common tongue with the people around you.
What Makes CLIK Different: Translation Without the Internet
Most translation tools today—whether apps on your phone or popular smart earbuds—depend on a live internet connection. They send your speech to a remote server, translate it, and send it back. In many parts of Africa, where connectivity can be unreliable or expensive, that reliance on the cloud is a serious limitation.
CLIK changes that equation. It is widely described as the world’s first truly wireless earbuds capable of translating more than 40 languages in real time without any internet access at all. The translation engine runs directly on the device, using advanced on-device AI and proprietary software built into the earbuds themselves. You speak in one language, and the person you are speaking with hears your words in their own language—whether through their own earbuds or through the companion MyJuno smartphone app.
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How the CLIK Offline Translation Earbuds Work
The CLIK system is designed for real human interaction, not just gadget enthusiasts. When the earbuds are powered on and paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth, they automatically detect the language being spoken and deliver a spoken translation within a sentence or two. A microphone and a low-power microprocessor inside the earbuds handle the heavy lifting.
For conversations where the other person does not have their own earbuds, the MyJuno app acts as a bridge. The app provides a voice-to-text interface, showing a transcript of the conversation while the earbuds deliver the translated audio. The system combines speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology to convert spoken words into another language and back again, all in a matter of moments.
The Journey from CLIK to CLIK Pro
Manu first showcased CLIK at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2017, at a time when giants like Apple and Google were pouring vast resources into similar ideas. He funded the project from his own savings and a crowdfunding campaign, and he worked on the idea for years while holding down a full-time job as an aerospace engineer.
Since then, the CLIK family has grown. The original CLIK was followed by the CLIK S in 2019, and in 2024 Mymanu released the CLIK Pro, an AI-powered model that won a CES 2024 Innovation Award. The CLIK Pro supports more than 50 languages and introduces a charging case with a built-in speaker and an e-ink touch screen, meaning you can hold a translated conversation without even needing a phone. It also offers multiple translation modes for one-on-one conversations, group discussions, and even continuous translation of speeches or lectures.
A Special Connection to Ghana and Africa
For African audiences, Danny Manu’s story carries particular weight. He has expressed a strong interest in expanding Mymanu’s research and development activities to Ghana and in adding African languages to the translation system. In 2021, reports indicated that he was considering establishing a research centre in Ghana where engineers could work on incorporating local languages. In January 2026, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom met with Manu to explore collaboration on innovation and youth empowerment projects in Ghana.
It is important to note, however, that languages such as Twi, Ga, and Ewe are not yet among the publicly confirmed languages supported by CLIK. The vision is clearly there, but the work of bringing African languages fully into the system is still ongoing.
A Necessity for a Linguistically Diverse Continent
Africa is home to more than 2,000 living languages, and cross-border trade, travel, and collaboration are growing every day. A tool that works offline is a necessity. Traders in busy markets, health workers in remote clinics, travellers crossing borders, and young people connecting across cultures all stand to benefit from technology that does not stop working when the network does.
Danny Manu’s journey from a Ghanaian household in London to the global stage of consumer technology is a reminder that African ingenuity can compete at the highest level. CLIK is more than a pair of earbuds. It is a statement that the tools of the future can be built by people who understand the realities of the communities they come from—and that the ability to speak to one another should never be limited by the strength of a signal.
