Puedes escribir en inglés? No?
No problema: A local startup is here to help.
The people behind Viva Translate Inc. have created a browser extension that can translate written Spanish into native-sounding English. Spanish speakers can turn on the extension while writing in a range of applications to craft messages for English speakers.
"Imagine a very qualified IT worker in Colombia that's trying to communicate to a potential employer or a Silicon Valley headhunter and applying for a programming job," said Belinda Mo, co-founder and CEO of the Palo Alto startup. "With Viva, they would be able to have instant two-way conversations."
Viva Translate's software uses artificial intelligence to translate Spanish words into English ones nearly instantaneously, Mo said. Targeted at professional workers, the extension shows users translations as they type. It also asks them for clarifications when they write certain words or phrases that are difficult to translate or have multiple connotations.
Users pay $5 to $15 a month for the service. The company has more than 125,000 Spanish-speaking professionals on a waiting list to use it, Mo said. She declined to say how many active users its service has.
Mo's experience as a first-generation American inspired her to launch Viva Translate. As a child, she had to translate for her Chinese-speaking parents and adult relatives to help them gain access to jobs, government benefits and other resources. To this day, she and her cousins still have to act as go-betweens for one of her uncles when he goes to medical appointments, because he doesn't speak English.
- Company: Viva Translate Inc.
- Headquarters: Palo Alto
- CEO: Belinda Mo
- Year founded: 2020
- Number of employees: 10
- Website: vivatranslate.com
Mo saw a big opportunity thanks to remote work
The inability to communicate in English in the United States can be a big handicap for people, even beyond such day-to-day challenges, she said.
"There's this implicit status difference based on someone's English fluency levels," she said.
Mo studied linguistics and computer science at Stanford University, conducting research at its Legal Design Lab. Advances in machine learning and translation technology over the last few years have already aided many people in personal translation; the next logical step was translation for professional communication, she said.
Even though she wasn't a native Spanish speaker, it made sense technically and logistically for Viva Translate to begin with Spanish-to-English translation, Mo said. The languages are similar, and her university research focused on Spanish speakers.
Plus, Mo saw a huge market opportunity. With companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere embracing remote work in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mo and her co-founder, Tony Hua figured such businesses would start to look more seriously at hiring remote workers based in other countries.
Given that there are about 400 million Spanish-speaking professionals in Latin America, and about four-fifths of the world doesn't speak English, there is a big pool of possible candidates for remote jobs if only they could find a way to communicate clearly with English-speaking leaders at U.S. companies.
Mo and Hua aren't the only ones who are excited about that potential. Their company recently raised its first $4 million in funding from investors including General Catalyst, Fellows Fund, Hyphen Capital and First Check Ventures.
Even though Viva Translate just raised funding, Mo expects to raise another round soon.
"We are pretty aggressive on our growth trajectory," Mo said. "So we will definitely be raising in the near future."
