Cisco Acquires AI Translation Startup EzDubs
▼ Summary
– Cisco has acquired real-time translation startup EzDub, though the deal size remains undisclosed.
– EzDub was founded in 2023 and raised $4.2 million in seed funding from investors including Venture Highway and tech executives.
– Cisco plans to integrate EzDub’s voice-preserving translation technology into its Cisco Collaboration platform, including Webex.
– The EzDub team will join Cisco Collaboration, but it’s unclear if all members are transitioning to the company.
– EzDub is discontinuing its consumer apps, which offered call translation in over 30 languages, by December 15.
Cisco has officially acquired EzDubs, a Y-Combinator-backed startup specializing in real-time AI translation technology. The networking leader plans to incorporate EzDubs’ capabilities into its Cisco Collaboration platform, enhancing products like Webex with live translation features that maintain the speaker’s original voice and emotional tone. While the financial terms remain confidential, this move signals Cisco’s deepening investment in AI-powered communication tools.
EzDubs was established in 2023 by co-founders Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, Amrutavarsh Kinagi, and Kareem Nassar. Notably, Nassar previously contributed to Cisco’s Speech AI group before launching the startup. The company secured $4.2 million in seed funding, led by Venture Highway, founded by former WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora. Additional investors included Replit CEO Amjad Masad, Replit President Michele Catasta, Applied Intuition CEO Qasar Younis, and Ben Firshman, CEO of Replicate, which Cloudflare recently acquired.
Integration of EzDubs’ technology will enable real-time translation across Cisco’s hardware and software communication solutions. The company also indicated that the translation tools may be offered to partners and developers, broadening their application. According to Snorre Kjesbu, SVP of Collaboration at Cisco, the EzDubs team will join Cisco’s Collaboration unit, collaborating closely with product, engineering, and market strategy teams to “chart a new course for the industry.”
It remains unclear whether every EzDubs employee will transition to Cisco. The startup will discontinue its consumer-facing applications, which provided call translation across more than 30 languages, by December 15. In a farewell blog post, EzDubs reflected on milestones such as launching the first video dubbing tool, which gained millions of views on X (formerly Twitter), and enabling real-time phone translation that preserved voice and emotion.
This acquisition occurs amid ongoing consolidation in the translation technology sector. Earlier this month, Palabra AI, backed by Seven Seven Six, acquired the live communication platform Talo. In July, language localization firm TransPerfect purchased Unbabel, a Portuguese translation startup.
The EzDubs deal also prompts discussion about the viability of consumer-focused translation services when enterprise communication markets present stronger revenue potential. The global translation services market is currently valued at around $40 billion, underscoring the economic incentives for companies like Cisco to prioritize business and developer-oriented solutions.
(Source: TechCrunch)