Smartling Acquires Shark Tank Alumnus VerbalizeIt to Expand Multimedia Translation Capabilities

NEW YORK – May 19, 2016 – Smartling today announced it has acquired VerbalizeIt to augment its enterprise translation management platform with translation capabilities for audio, video and other multimedia content. Its second acquisition this year, Smartling continues to expand the breadth of translation management technology offerings within its platform, resulting in the premier end-to-end global content solution for savvy brands with international operations or expansion aspirations. In addition to technology and people, the acquisition brings hundreds of VerbalizeIt customers to Smartling.

VerbalizeIt is a New York-based technology startup delivering human-powered translation and localization services to hundreds of businesses worldwide. Founded at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, VerbalizeIt was built at Techstars and had three investors from ABC’s hit TV show “Shark Tank” battling over a stake in the company. In addition to integrating its software into the Smartling platform, VerbalizeIt’s Co-Founders, Ryan Frankel and Kunal Sarda, will take on leadership roles within the company. Frankel is tasked with developing channel and partnership alliances, while Sarda will focus on the product experience for customers and translators.

“Smartling’s acquisition of VerbalizeIt brings together two world-class technology companies and a leadership lineup of entrepreneurs unrivaled in the industry,” said Jack Welde, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smartling. “By joining forces, we’re taking the language services industry by storm. We now offer the most comprehensive enterprise translation management platform on the market today. No other company can help ambitious brands access new markets, reach more customers and provide greater value than we can.”

Smartling’s technology is transforming the way global content is created, consumed and managed. Hundreds of organizations, such as Pinterest, GoPro and Spotify, are using Smartling to reach more customers with localized websites, mobile apps and other digital content with greater speed, and at a fraction of the cost.

With the acquisition, brands can now extend these same translation management capabilities to multimedia sources. Audio and video files can be transcribed and translated. Companies can make their media content infinitely more searchable, accessible and engaging for a global audience with high-quality, localized captions and subtitles. And, in addition to multimedia translation, Smartling’s customers can break down language barriers with VerbalizeIt’s live interpretation services.

“Technology should enable human-to-human connections, not impede or replace them,” said Frankel. “From small translation projects to large-scale international expansions, we enable companies to deliver localized content and personalized experiences across channels that resonate with multilingual audiences. This acquisition is a win for current Smartling and VerbalizeIt customers, as well as for those businesses with language translation initiatives on the horizon.”

Smartling is already working to incorporate VerbalizeIt’s technology into its enterprise translation management platform and expects the integration to be completed in Q3 2016. The acquisition also augments the company’s comprehensive API and enhances its robust portfolio of direct platform connectors. VerbalizeIt’s integrations with popular software, like Salesforce’s Desk.com, will be available to all of Smartling’s customers.

To learn more about Smartling, please visit: smartling.com