Cisco Acquires Translation Startup Ezdubs

Networking elephantine Cisco has acquired EzDub, a Y-Combinator-backed user startup that provides real-time translator services. Cisco announced nan acquisition complete nan weekend, but nan institution didn’t disclose nan size of nan deal.

EzDubs was founded by Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, Amrutavarsh Kinagi, and Kareem Nassar successful 2023. Notably, Nassar had antecedently worked astatine Cisco’s Speech AI group earlier co-founding nan startup. The institution raised $4.2 cardinal successful seed backing led by Venture Highway, which was founded by Neeraj Arora, who was antecedently WhatsApp’s main business officer. Other investors successful EzDubs see Replit CEO Amjad Masad; Replit President Michele Catasta; Qasar Younis, who is CEO of nan autonomous conveyance package institution Applied Intuition; and Ben Firshman, CEO of nan unreality startup Replicate (which was itself acquired by Cloudflare successful a woody that was announced connected Monday).

Cisco said it plans to merge EzDubs’ tech into its connection platform, Cisco Collaboration, which spans hardware and software. This intends users tin get features for illustration unrecorded translator successful products for illustration Webex video calling and messaging. Cisco’s blog station besides indicated that it could make nan translator tech — which preserves nan speaker’s original sound — disposable to partners and developers.

“The EzDubs squad will subordinate Cisco Collaboration, moving side-by-side pinch our product, engineering, and go-to-market teams. Together, we will floor plan a caller people for nan industry, 1 wherever AI doesn’t conscionable support collaboration, but genuinely empowers it,” Snorre Kjesbu, SVP of Collaboration astatine Cisco, said successful nan post.

Cisco didn’t explain whether each members of EzDubs’ squad are joining nan company. We person asked nan institution to explain and will update nan communicative if we perceive back.

EzDubs is sunsetting its user apps, which supported telephone translations for much than 30 languages, by December 15.

“From launching nan world’s first video dubbing instrumentality that garnered millions of views connected X (fka Twitter) to enabling real-time, sound and emotion preserving telephone telephone translator crossed 30+ languages, this travel has been extraordinary. But what has genuinely meant nan astir is nan support, feedback, and stories you’ve shared on nan way,” nan startup said successful a blog post.

In caller months, location person been a fewer acquisitions successful nan translator space. This month, Seven Seven Six-backed Palabra AI acquired live connection level Talo. In July, connection localization institution TransPerfect acquired Unbabel, a translator startup founded successful Portugal.

EzDubs’ acquisition besides raises nan mobility of whether it’s viable to build a translator focused connected consumers erstwhile location is much money and request successful nan endeavor connection market. According to various reports, nan translator services marketplace is weighted astatine astir $40 billion.