DeepL has announced a new investment of USD 300 million led by Index Ventures. The round also includes participation from late-stage investors ICONIQ Growth, Teachers’ Venture Growth, as well as existing investors IVP, Atomico, and WiL.
This new investment brings DeepL’s valuation to USD 2 billion, a staggering figure that reflects its growth in the market.
The German ‘unicorn’ has become a symbol of European entrepreneurship thanks to its global recognition as a pioneering startup in linguistic AI. Its main tool for the general public, DeepL Translate, launched in 2017, gradually became known until it managed to topple the giant Google’s online translator, thanks to its algorithm delivering more natural and accurate results that are based on specialized language AI models, resulting in more accurate translations for all kinds of use cases.
The funding will also be key to continued growth and expansion in key strategic markets such as the U.S., its third largest market, as well as R&D to ensure DeepL remains at the forefront of AI language innovation as the number of AI-related companies continues to grow at an accelerated rate.
“We are approaching a tipping point in the rise of AI where companies jumping to adopt this technology are beginning to discern between the hype and secure solutions that solve their problems,” said Jaroslaw Kutylowski, founder and CEO of DeepL. “This new investment comes during what is on track to be DeepL’s most transformative year to date and highlights the crucial role our platform plays in solving the complex language challenges facing global enterprises today. We are focusing all our efforts on continuing to grow and innovate to expand our range of solutions and ensure that they continue to lead the industry in terms of quality, accuracy, and security. This brings us closer to a future where all companies, wherever they are, can easily operate on a global scale with the help of our AI.”
Leading the development of AI language solutions
While its translator has gained popularity among users, DeepL’s core business is in the B2B services the company offers. DeepL’s linguistic AI platform and its enterprise translation and writing solutions are leading the industry. The rapid enterprise adoption of DeepL has fueled the growth of the company, whose technology has now been deployed in 100,000 businesses, governments, and organizations in more than 60 markets worldwide.
In a globalized world, such services are a critical investment for companies, enabling them to successfully address challenges such as multilingual internal communications, serving customers around the world, and reaching new markets.
DeepL’s client portfolio includes names such as Zendesk, Nikkei, Coursera, and Deutsche Bahn, companies that rely on the high accuracy and security of its linguistic AI platform to optimize their communication and drive their international growth.
In response to growing demand from global enterprises, DeepL has accelerated its expansion and strategic investments in key markets over the past year. In January 2024, DeepL opened its first office in the US, its third major market.
This new $300 million investment will enable the company to accelerate its efforts to break down the cross-border communication barriers that global businesses face with AI, a major challenge that popular mainstream LLMs have not adequately addressed.
