Fortissimo Capital has acquired one third of One Hour Translations Ltd. for an investment of $10 million. The Rehovot-based online translation service was founded by CEO Ofer Shoshan, VP Yaron Kaufman and two partners by bootstrapping.
One Hour Translations has over 15,000 translators in 100 countries. Its clients include Toyota, Coca-Cola, the US Army, IBM, Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS), El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), and Comverse Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSI). It offers a range of translation, transcription, and proofreading services across a range of subjects.
"We've grown organically until now, without investments, to become within two years the largest online translation service," said Shoshan. "Fortissimo's investment will allow us to grow much more rapidly and become the largest professional translation service in the world."
One Hour Translations has 50 employees in Israel and other countries, with offices in Rehovot, Kiev, Bucharest, and New York. The company plans to use the investment proceeds to hire 40 people in Israel, including developers, salespeople, and customer service and support staff. "We're proud that over half of the company's employees are women," said One Hour Translations COO Lior Libman. "We definitely intend to continue this trend."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 5, 2014
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