Gengo raises $5.4 million to expand its crowd-sourced translations

With globalization and the rise of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to connect with people from across the globe. However, language barriers have made things rather difficult, particularly for businesses, which is why companies like Gengo exist. Gengo is a Japanese startup with American funding that aims to break through the language barrier than businesses both large and small face by using crowd=souced translation, and it just raised another $5.4 million in funding to do so. 

Gengo, the Silicon Valley-Tokyo hybrid that solves translation woes for firms large and small around the world has just raised US$5.4 million in its series C. Investors were led by Recruit Holdings and included SBI Investments, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, CrowdWorks, Allied Architects, and Libertad, along with returning investors Intel Capital, Iris Capital Management, STC Ventures Fund Company, and Infocomm Investments. The startup previously raised US$12 million back in 2013. Gengo connects clients to 15,000 translators. It works in a crowded space with local competitors like Conyac and Wovn, but its dedication to transparency is one way the company keeps bringing in customers. Last November, Gengo debuted its open data program as a way for anyone to check the speed, capacity, customer support, and quality ratings of the translations. Since the program’s start, Gengo has reduced the average “first action time” – the time it takes for a translator to start working on a project – by 70 percent and the overall turnaround time has fallen by 62 percent. Now, the typical user will submit a project for translation and will see the project begin within seven minutes and finished within 37 minutes. 87 percent of requests are for 500 words or less.