Acquisition Brings EzDubs’ Voice-Preserving Translation Tech Into Cisco’s Collaboration Products
Cisco acquired EzDubs, a Y Combinator-backed startup that provides real-time translation, and announced the deal over the weekend without disclosing the purchase price. The company said EzDubs’ technology will be integrated into Cisco Collaboration, the communication platform that includes Webex video calling, messaging, and related hardware and software.
Startup Founded in 2023 With $4.2 Million in Funding
EzDubs was founded in 2023 by Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, Amrutavarsh Kinagi, and Kareem Nassar. Nassar previously worked in Cisco’s Speech AI group before launching the startup. EzDubs raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by Venture Highway, the firm founded by former WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora. Other investors included Replit CEO Amjad Masad; Replit President Michele Catasta; Applied Intuition CEO Qasar Younis; and Replicate CEO Ben Firshman, whose own company was acquired by Cloudflare in a deal announced on Monday.
Cisco Plans Deep Integration Across Its Communication Ecosystem
Cisco said EzDubs’ team will join Cisco Collaboration and work with product, engineering, and go-to-market teams. Snorre Kjesbu, SVP of Collaboration at Cisco, wrote that the combined work aims to expand how AI supports real-time communication. Cisco’s blog post said the translation technology, which preserves the speaker’s original voice, may also be made available to partners and developers. The company has not confirmed whether every EzDubs employee is joining Cisco.
EzDubs to Shut Down Consumer Apps by December 15
As part of the acquisition, EzDubs is discontinuing its consumer apps, which offered call translation in more than 30 languages. The company said the apps will be shut down by December 15. In a blog post, EzDubs reflected on launching a video dubbing tool that attracted millions of views on X and on building real-time translation that preserved voice and emotion across dozens of languages.
Deal Follows a Series of Recent Translation-Focused Acquisitions
EzDubs’ sale takes place amid increased activity in the translation sector. Earlier this month, Palabra AI, backed by Seven Seven Six, acquired live communication platform Talo. In July, TransPerfect acquired Unbabel, a translation startup founded in Portugal. The EzDubs acquisition also brings attention to the challenge of building consumer-focused translation products in a market where enterprise demand is stronger. Reports commonly estimate the translation services market at about $40 billion.
Featured image credits: Flickr
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