Talk of innovation happening in the complex and nascent language services market and Reverie Language Technologies is certainly taking the lead. The Bangalore-based startup, which provides local language solutions for the internet through its language-as-a-service platform has already raised $4 million in Series A funding by Aspada Investment Advisors, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures. Having started its journey with five people, Reverie today has over 70 employees.
Here’s a look at Reverie and how its incredible pace of innovation, may define the next big thing for the sector and businesses in the years to come.
THE PITCH
Reverie’s cloud-based language-as-a-service (LaaS) platform allows companies to localise their content. In its approach, Reverie sees itself as an enabling platform completely focused on creating a user experience in local languages. According to Arvind Pani, co-founder and CEO, Reverie, “We didn’t see it as a mere tech problem but a user experience problem that needed to be solved across a gamut of users and through their entire journey on the internet.” Reverie’s full-stack integrated platform offers solutions to translate, transliterate, input, and search on the web in multiple Indian languages, thus helping businesses solve the user engagement problem end-to-end. Analysing the data that flows through Reverie’s platform, to generate insights into local language user behaviour is also a key offering.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Reverie offers its service through LaaS, a cloud-based platform which provides localisation services through a set of intelligent Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These APIs and Software Development Kits (SDKs) are designed to handle different meanings of the same word in different domains, making them context-aware. The localisation API provided by the ‘LaaS’ platform aids in the contextual transformation of content. According to Arvind, the technology runs on a plug-and-play concept which can be integrated into the business infrastructure and ensures the shortest go-to-market time. The company’s biggest focus is to automate the process as much as possible.
THE MARKET
According to a recent report by Counterpoint Research, India is ahead of U.S in terms of active smartphone users crossing the 220 million mark. As per IAMAI, close to 50% of Indian smartphone users consumed content in their local language online. Going by this trend, local languages will overtake English in the coming months. Regional language support market is pegged at $3.5-4 bn annually with a CAGR of 30%.
In such a scenario, the market potential for Reverie is tremendous. The company aims to help businesses across the board tap local language users. Presently, the company caters to the entire ecosystem with its solutions including device OEMs, app developers, consumer internet companies, central and state governments, content providers, and enterprises.
THE FUTURE
In days to follow, Reverie plans to develop its voice engine and extend its offerings to newer regions of the world. According to Arvind, “Reverie will be a dominant player in solving language computing problem, not just in India but elsewhere too.” Reverie platform has been designed to handle growth and achieve scale which comes with usage and flow of data leading to insights that the company has already begun to develop. Maintaining the sanctity of their offering while dealing with clients who request customization, customer profiling and creating long-term impact through localization are some of the challenges that Reverie would need to address as they grow.