logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • SlatorCon Remote May 2021
    • Email Marketing for Freelance Linguists
    • Preparing for the Critical Google Update Coming in May 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • SlatorCon Remote May 2021
    • Email Marketing for Freelance Linguists
    • Preparing for the Critical Google Update Coming in May 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Register For Email Marketing for Freelance Linguists and Learn How To Win New Clients.

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
Translation Startup Funding Disclosed on Crunchbase over the Last Ten Years: $231M

5 years ago

October 12, 2015

Translation Startup Funding Disclosed on Crunchbase over the Last Ten Years: $231M

M&A and Funding ·

by Gino Diño

On October 12, 2015

5 years ago
M&A and Funding ·

by Gino Diño

On October 12, 2015

Translation Startup Funding Disclosed on Crunchbase over the Last Ten Years: $231M

Yes, we did the counting for you. Since 2005, over 190 translation startups have been established based on Crunchbase, reflecting the growth of the $38 billion language services market and all the various niches that traditional service providers cannot seem to fill. In Slator’s recent feature, we scoured Crunchbase’s database for startups in the translation category, and listed everything we’ve found. Beyond discovering that there have been an average of 19 startups founded annually since 2005, we also discovered that for the past decade, translation startups managed to secure over $230 million in funding.

Over the last ten years, though many of the 190 startups we covered never received funding, the total funds raised by the select few that did totaled $231,647,310. Duolingo came out on top with a total of $83.3 million in four rounds from 14 investors, the most recent of which was for a $45 million Series D round on June 10, 2015. Whether or not Duolingo should still be categorized under “Translation” is another matter. Along with its latest funding round the company disclosed it has actually “tabled its ambitions around translation“.

According to Crunchbase’s advanced search in the translation category, a total of 47 companies out of the 190 have received funding so far:

Advertisement
  1. Duolingo ($83.3M)
  2. Elio Motors ($25M)
  3. Gengo ($24.2M)
  4. Cloudwords ($14.4M)
  5. Machine Zone, Inc. ($13.3M)
  6. One Hour Translation ($10M)
  7. Servio ($9.36M)
  8. TextMaster ($8.36M)
  9. Transifex ($6.5M)
  10. Lingotek ($6.44M)
  11. Rev ($4.5M)
  12. Transfluent ($3.29M)
  13. Twago.com ($3.14M)
  14. Webflakes ($3M)
  15. TRAN.SL ($2.56M)
  16. VerbalizeIt ($2.45M)
  17. SpeechTrans ($1.8M)
  18. Unbabel ($1.5M)
  19. Minimal Technologies ($1.1M)
  20. Yaraku, Inc. ($1.06M)
  21. GlobeChat ($1M)
  22. Reach7 ($0.78703M)
  23. Flitto ($0.7059M)
  24. Tolingo ($0.6M)
  25. Dakwak ($0.6M)
  26. WritePath ($0.525M)
  27. Lingout ($0.39008M)
  28. Ablio ($0.25M)
  29. greatcontent.com ($0.21556M)
  30. Babelverse ($0.19M)
  31. Lingohub ($0.18M)
  32. Skuuper ($0.14117M)
  33. HIZLIÇEVİRİ ($0.135M)
  34. lingoking GmbH ($0.13134M)
  35. AmigoCAT ($0.12968M)
  36. Jargon ($0.118M)
  37. LocPlanet ($0.09055M)
  38. SeekPanda ($0.05M)
  39. Softlation ($0.045M)
  40. Reverbeo ($0.04M)
  41. Asia Translate ($0.02M)
  42. TurboTranslations ($0.02M)
  43. Keego ($0.02M)
  44. Marco Polo Project ($0.003M)

Startups that received funding but did not disclose amounts:

  • Videum
  • myKnowtions
  • Autotiming

It appears that only a small portion of the translation startups founded in the last ten years have actively sought funding or successfully wooed investors or both. The startups listed above only started receiving funding in 2006, when Lingotek secured $2.6M in Series A funding from three investors. It picked up in 2008, when Lingotek, tolingo, and Machine Zone, Inc. all won financial support. The funding trend did not pick up again until 2011, with Viki, GreatContent, and Jibbigo sealing deals, though Asia Translate managed to nab a humble $20,000 in Venture funding in 2009.

In 2012, interest in the sector resurged, with nine translation startups securing funding. Then 11 startups received funding in 2013, 12 in 2014, and as we enter the last quarter of this 2015, Crunchbase’s advanced search shows that nine startups have already secured funding.

Again, these are only the companies that fall under the translation category in Crunchbase’s data. Some translation startups who have had success in securing funding are not mentioned. Smartling, for instance, has so far raised $63.1 million in funding across four investment rounds and from 26 different investors.

In the coming months and years, we will continue to see startups being founded and funded, and if the current growth rate of the language industry stays steady, then the funding trend won’t be drastically slowing down anytime soon.

TAGS

fundinginterpretationlanguage technologyStart-uptranslation
SHARE
Gino Diño

By Gino Diño

Content strategy expert and Online Editor for Slator; father, husband, gamer, writer―not necessarily in that order.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
6CONNEX to Partner with Interprefy to Help Clients Host Large Scale Events in Any Language

6CONNEX to Partner with Interprefy to Help Clients Host Large Scale Events in Any Language

by Interprefy

BLEND Raises $10m to Fuel Global Growth with End-to-end Localization Services

BLEND Raises $10m to Fuel Global Growth with End-to-end Localization Services

by BLEND

Iconic Launches INTRA Translation Platform

Iconic Launches INTRA Translation Platform

by Iconic

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Smartling - Global Ready Conference 2021

    Global Ready Conference

    by Smartling

    · April 14

    When you can't traverse the world, let the world come to you. Join our annual global event from home.

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Sunyu Transphere

Sunyu Transphere

Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

Seprotec

Seprotec

Versacom

Versacom

Smartling

Smartling

XTM International

XTM International

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Poland Rules on LSP Using Google Translate; Defines ‘Professional Translator’

Poland Rules on LSP Using Google Translate; Defines ‘Professional Translator’

by Marion Marking

The Slator 2021 Language Service Provider Index

The Slator 2021 Language Service Provider Index

by Slator

Behind the Scenes of the European Parliament’s Pivot to Remote Interpreting

Behind the Scenes of the European Parliament’s Pivot to Remote Interpreting

by Seyma Albarino

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,500 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.