Translators Without Borders

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.

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

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

• Humanitarian translation services
• Crisis response translation
• Volunteer translation platform
• Language technology solutions
• Nonprofit language support

Headquarters

HQ city

Danbury

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. 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)
2. 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
3. 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
4. Language Data Services: Language Data Initiative providing language mapping and data analysis services to humanitarian organizations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core 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

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Wiki Project Med FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Collaboration 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 FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMerger 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.
• InternewscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumanitarian partner collaborating on information and communication initiatives. Internews works with TWB to translate humanitarian information for distribution to affected populations.
• International Rescue CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor humanitarian organization using TWB translation and interpretation services for refugee and crisis response programs
• START NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of humanitarian NGOs collaborating on crisis response and translation needs
• CHS AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to translate Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability into Swahili
• Kinshasa DigitalcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on multilingual chatbot development and translation support for disaster response
• Proz.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform 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

Broad 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

• Xx.com/translatorswb
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TranslatorsWB
• Facebookfacebook.com/translatorswithoutborders
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/translators-without-borders
• Instagraminstagram.com/translatorswb/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Translators Without Borders