As long as language translation apps have been around, there have been countless innovations in the space to increase accuracy and allow artificial intelligence-based voices to read the translations out loud. While these innovations have helped consumers overcome language barriers, these technological feats were never in a user’s exact voice, until Sanas came around.
Sanas is a Palo Alto-based accent translation startup. Through its technology, the platform allows consumers to choose an accent in the language they speak or are trying to speak. As the platform translates sentences, it can play the translations back in the user’s voice with a culturally accurate accent rather than a robotic, AI voice.
On Wednesday, Sanas pulled in $32 million in its Series A raise led by VC giant Insight Partners with participation from Google Ventures, Assurant Ventures and others. The translation startup plans to use its fresh funds to open a headquarters in India and hire to fuel its research and development efforts.
“The goal of Sanas has always been to bring people closer together and allow people to have a choice when it comes to their communication style — something that was previously only possible through extensive speech language pathology,” Maxim Serebryakov, co-founder and CEO of Sanas, said in a statement. “Similar to how social media platforms allow users to control the way they physically appear online, this technology enables anyone to have that same control in a digital setting — but for the way they sound.”
Sanas launched last August and beta users have described the translation process as “magical,” according to the company.
“Insight Partners is thrilled to deepen its relationship with Sanas on such cutting-edge and transformative technology,” Ganesh Bell, managing director of Insight Partners and newly slated Sanas board member, said in a statement. “As the company comes out of its stealth phase, I look forward to working with this immensely talented and passionate team to build a product that will, among many things, help eliminate the unfortunate biases and discrimination experienced by those who speak English as a second language, which includes many of Sanas’ employees.”
