Translators Without Borders
Translators Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides pro bono translation services and language technology to humanitarian organizations, leveraging a global community of over 100,000 volunteer translators across 200+ languages through its Kató platform and AI-powered multilingual chatbots.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersDanbury, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Translators Without Borders does
Translators without Borders (TWB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2011 by Lori Thicke and now operating under parent CLEAR Global, Inc., with headquarters in Garden City, Idaho and a regional entity in Dublin, Ireland. The organization provides pro bono and subsidized translation and language services to humanitarian non-governmental organizations, having translated over 85 million words into more than 200 languages for 600+ partner organizations and reached over 40 million people with vital information. Its core delivery is the Kató Translation Platform, an online workspace launched in 2011 in collaboration with Proz.com and upgraded in 2017, which connects non-profit partners with a global community of over 100,000 volunteer translators and language professionals and integrates translation memory, terminology support, machine translation, and quality assurance tools via a MateCat integration.
The organization has developed language technology capabilities beyond pure translation, including multilingual Natural Language Processing chatbots (Uji in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Manhajar Shehu in Nigeria) distributed over WhatsApp, Telegram, and SMS, and a described world-first offline crisis-specific machine translation engine for Kurdish languages (Sorani and Kurmanji). Adjacent products include TWB Glossaries (terminology resources), the Gamayun Language Initiative (technology for marginalized languages), the Language Data Initiative (language mapping and data services covering 30+ countries), the Words of Relief crisis response program, the TWB Learning Center, and a long-running Wikipedia Medical Translation Task Force partnership that has produced 1,400+ health articles across 66 local-language Wikipedias.
TWB's business model blends non-profit revenue streams: individual donations and bequests, corporate sponsorship tiers (Diamond, Sapphire) anchored by major language-service providers such as Smartling, RWS Foundation, Semantix, TransPerfect, and Microsoft, paid subscriptions to the Kató platform starting at US $850 per year for non-profit partners, and language data services. Go-to-market is community-led, combining direct NGO partnerships, a self-serve platform channel, and an extensive volunteer community network. The organization is governed by a volunteer board, chaired by Andrew Bredenkamp, with Aimee Ansari serving as Executive Director, and operates without equity funding.
Translators Without Borders firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Translators Without Borders
- Legal name
- Translators without Borders – US, Inc.
- Website
- https://translatorswithoutborders.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Translators Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides pro bono translation services and language technology to humanitarian organizations, leveraging a global community of over 100,000 volunteer translators across 200+ languages through its Kató platform and AI-powered multilingual chatbots.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Translators Without Borders industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Humanitarian Translation Services
- NAICS
- Translation and Interpretation Services (54193), Language Schools (61163), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Communications Services, Nec (4899), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Border Management & Humanitarian Border Assistance (BPADAHAL), Multilingual/Translation Communication Apps (BPAMACAJ), Interpretation, Translation & Language Access Training (Community Interpreting) (EDAAADAJ), Visa Documentation, Translation, Notarization & Apostille Services (EDAIADAD)
Keywords
Where Translators Without Borders is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Danbury
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Translators Without Borders business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual donations, fundraising campaigns, and bequests from supporters. TWB operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (TIN 27-3840123)
- Corporate Sponsorships: Sponsorship tiers including Diamond, Sapphire, and in-kind sponsors providing financial or pro bono support. Sponsors include Smartling, RWS Foundation, Semantix, TransPerfect, Microsoft, and others
- Kató Platform Subscriptions: Annual subscription fees for non-profit partners accessing the Kató translation platform, starting at US $850 per year with word count allowances at three different levels
- Language Data Services: Language Data Initiative providing language mapping and data analysis services to humanitarian organizations
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Kató Platform Annual Subscription |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Translators Without Borders product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Translators Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides pro bono translation, interpretation, and language technology services to humanitarian non-profits and crisis-affected communities worldwide. It connects a global community of over 100,000 volunteer translators to humanitarian partners via the Kató translation platform, delivers crisis-specific multilingual chatbots and offline machine translation engines, and produces language mapping data for humanitarian planning.
Product overview
Translators Without Borders operates as a non-profit humanitarian translation organization offering a portfolio of language services and technology products. The core offering is the Kató Translation Platform, an online workspace connecting non-profit partners with over 100,000 volunteer translators. Adjacent products include TWB Chatbots (multilingual conversational AI using NLP), TWB Glossaries (terminology resources), the Gamayun Language Initiative (language equality/technology development), and the Language Data Initiative (language mapping and data). The TWB Learning Center provides e-learning courses, while the Wikipedia Medical Translation Task Force enables health information access through Wikipedia. The organization merged with The Rosetta Foundation in 2017, integrating their Trommons platform for crowdsourced translator matching. Crisis response capabilities include the Words of Relief program and specialized chatbots like Uji (DRC) and Manhajar Shehu (Nigeria).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Gamayun: TWB's language equality initiative focused on the development of language technology for marginalized languages to make global communication more equitable and accessible.
- Kató
- Uji
- Words of Relief
Products and services
- Kató Translation Platform Online translation workspace where non-profit partners connect with TWB's community of volunteer translators to translate documents, featuring translation memory, terminology support, machine translation integration, quality assurance tools, and word-count calculations with repetition discounts.
- TWB Multilingual Chatbots AI-powered multilingual chatbots using Natural Language Processing to provide real-time conversational access to critical crisis and health information in users' preferred languages via WhatsApp, Telegram, and SMS, with multimedia support for lower-literacy populations.
- Words of Relief Crisis Response Program TWB's crisis response program providing rapid translation and interpretation services, interpreter training, and language support during humanitarian emergencies for affected populations and responding organizations.
- Language Data Initiative Program that gathers and analyzes language data, producing interactive language maps showing language distribution by country, used by humanitarian organizations for evidence-based language intervention planning.
- TWB Glossaries Terminology resources and glossaries developed to support consistent translation across humanitarian and crisis response content, providing standardized terminology for translators and partner organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Translated over 85 million words for non-profit partners in 200+ languages
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Translators Without Borders
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Translators Without Borders technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability3 records
Feature4 records
Translators Without Borders partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Wiki Project Med FoundationcoreCollaboration supporting the Wikipedia Medical Translation Task Force, translating health care articles for local-language Wikipedias. Since 2012, over 1,400 new articles have become accessible, approximately 2.37 million words translated.
- The Rosetta FoundationcoreMerger completed in June 2017, bringing TRF's community model, technology (Trommons platform), and EU funding access to TWB. Combined organizations for increased efficiencies and expanded services.
- InternewscoreHumanitarian partner collaborating on information and communication initiatives. Internews works with TWB to translate humanitarian information for distribution to affected populations.
- International Rescue CommitteecoreMajor humanitarian organization using TWB translation and interpretation services for refugee and crisis response programs
- START NetworkcoreNetwork of humanitarian NGOs collaborating on crisis response and translation needs
- CHS AlliancecorePartnership to translate Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability into Swahili
- Kinshasa DigitalcoreTechnology partner for developing multilingual chatbots in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the Uji COVID-19 chatbot
- IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)coreCollaborating on multilingual chatbot development and translation support for disaster response
- Proz.comcorePlatform partner that helped create the first Kató translation workspace in 2011, donated platform management for first five years
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Translators Without Borders competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Lionbridge: Large commercial LSP offering translation, localization, and AI data services. Comparable in core translation capabilities for global enterprise and humanitarian clients.
- TransPerfect: One of the world's largest commercial language service providers, overlapping in translation/localization capabilities for humanitarian and global content; also a Sapphire sponsor of TWB.
- Translated: AI-augmented translation services provider with a crowdsourced translator model that partially overlaps with TWB's volunteer-driven approach to large-scale translation.
- Smartling: Enterprise translation management platform and language service provider. Comparable as a Kató-adjacent translation platform technology, while being a Diamond sponsor of TWB.
- RWS: Global language, localization, and intellectual property services company. Overlaps with TWB in professional translation services and corporate training, and is a sponsor via the RWS Foundation.
- LanguageLine Solutions: Largest provider of telephonic and video interpretation, including for healthcare and government. Relevant comparator for TWB's interpretation support work during humanitarian crises.
Others
- Microsoft Translator: Major machine translation platform including humanitarian/crisis translation features (e.g., Translator for Conversations). Comparable as the alternative technology foundation for multilingual crisis communication.
Emerging players
- REFUNITE: Non-profit providing technology-enabled services for refugees including multilingual information access. Comparable to TWB's refugee-language support mission and chatbot approach.
Direct peers
- ProZ.com: Translator marketplace and profile platform that donated the original Kató workspace technology to TWB. Comparable in mobilizing freelance translators for project-based work.
- Tarjimly: Volunteer-based translation and interpretation platform serving refugees and humanitarian NGOs through a mobile app. Most directly comparable to TWB in its volunteer-driven, humanitarian-translation mission.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Translators Without Borders social profiles
Digital presenceTranslators Without Borders financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Translators Without Borders leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Translators Without Borders subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Translators Without Borders funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Translators Without Borders M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Translators Without Borders
What does Translators Without Borders do?
Translators Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides pro bono translation, interpretation, and language technology services to humanitarian non-profits and crisis-affected communities worldwide. It connects a global community of over 100,000 volunteer translators to humanitarian partners via the Kató translation platform, delivers crisis-specific multilingual chatbots and offline machine translation engines, and produces language mapping data for humanitarian planning.
Is Translators Without Borders a public or private company?
Translators Without Borders is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Translators Without Borders founded?
Translators Without Borders was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Translators Without Borders based?
Translators Without Borders is headquartered in Danbury, United States, in the North America region.
How does Translators Without Borders make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donations and Charitable Contributions are the primary driver. The others are corporate Sponsorships, kató Platform Subscriptions and language Data Services.
Who are Translators Without Borders's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Lionbridge, TransPerfect, Translated, Smartling, RWS and LanguageLine Solutions. Microsoft Translator is listed as an others. REFUNITE is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are ProZ.com and Tarjimly.
Does Translators Without Borders have an API?
No public API is recorded for Translators Without Borders.
What industry is Translators Without Borders in?
Translators Without Borders's product category is Humanitarian Translation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPADAHAE, Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services, with a secondary code of BPADAHAL, Border Management & Humanitarian Border Assistance. Its NAICS code is 54193 and its SIC code is 4899.