Chinese artificial intelligence-powered translation start-up New Tranx Information Technology (Beijing) Co. has received a RMB50 million (US$7.5 million) pre-A round from Kaitai Capital and Bojiang Capital Management Group.
Meiya Qianhai Wutong Investment, a joint venture between Chinese digital forensics and cybersecurity company Meiya Pico and Qianhai Mergers and Acquisition Fund, and Leaguer Group Co., Ltd., a venture capital vehicle under the Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, also participated in the round, according to a company announcement.
The size of the overall global translation industry was estimated at US$40 billion in 2016, and is expected to expand to US$45 billion by 2020, according to a report by the Globalization and Localization Association.
Founded in 2014 by a group of Chinese scientists, New Tranx applies artificial intelligence and big data technology to translation services. Its products include online instant translation, computer-assisted translation and localization services for web portals.
The company focuses on business-to-government and business-to-business services. It earns revenues by providing customized data and search engines to clients. Its has helped companies including JD.com, Tsinghua University, Johnson & Johnson and China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, according to its website.
Its services are mostly used by the media, IT communication, law firms, finance and economics, biomedicine, legal contracts, engineering, mechanical engineering, petrochemical and tourism.
New Tranx has translation capabilities in 37 languages, and has categorized 570 million Chinese-English sentences into 25 areas to help improve translation quality.
