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May 28, 2024 542

DeepL, a European rival to Google Translate, rides AI hype to a $2 billion valuation

#global

"DeepL, an AI-powered translation tool competing with Google Translate, said Wednesday that it has raised $300 million in a round led by Index Ventures."

DeepL, an AI-powered translation platform, announced it has raised $300 million in a new funding round led by Index Ventures, boosting its valuation to $2 billion. This significant investment highlights continued investor interest in the AI sector. New investors ICONIQ Growth and Teachers’ Venture Growth joined the round, alongside existing investors IVP, Atomico, and WiL. The new valuation is double that of DeepL’s previous round in January 2023, when it raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.

Founder and CEO Jaroslaw Kutylowski expressed confidence in the firm's valuation, describing it as "pretty moderate" given the company's private stage status. The latest funding round included a mix of primary investments and secondary share sales by early investors. DeepL, launched in 2017, competes with Google Translate and offers translations between 32 languages. The company plans to expand in key markets like the U.S. and add support for more Asian languages.

DeepL's strategic focus includes becoming a productivity tool for enterprise customers, aiming to streamline company communications by automating translations. The company has ramped up its enterprise sales efforts, now counting Zendesk, Nikkei, Coursera, and Deutsche Bahn among its clients. Kutylowski emphasized DeepL's goal to provide robust language systems for enterprise clients, enhancing their control over internal and external communications.