Cisco, a leader in networking, has purchased EzDubs, a consumer-focused startup supported by Y Combinator that specializes in instant translation technology. The acquisition was revealed by Cisco over the weekend, though the financial terms were not made public.
EzDubs was established in 2023 by Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, Amrutavarsh Kinagi, and Kareem Nassar. Interestingly, Nassar was previously part of Cisco’s Speech AI division before co-founding EzDubs. The startup secured $4.2 million in seed investment, with Venture Highway—founded by former WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora—leading the round. Other notable backers include Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit; Michele Catasta, President of Replit; Qasar Younis, CEO of autonomous vehicle software firm Applied Intuition; and Ben Firshman, CEO of Replicate, a cloud startup that was recently acquired by Cloudflare.
Cisco intends to incorporate EzDubs’ technology into its Cisco Collaboration suite, which includes both hardware and software solutions. This integration will allow users to access features such as real-time translation within platforms like Webex for video calls and messaging. Cisco also mentioned in a blog post that it may offer this translation technology—which maintains the speaker’s original voice—to its partners and developers.
“The EzDubs team will become part of Cisco Collaboration, collaborating closely with our product, engineering, and go-to-market teams. Together, we aim to redefine the industry, creating a future where AI not only assists collaboration but truly enhances it,” stated Snorre Kjesbu, Cisco’s SVP of Collaboration, in the announcement.
Cisco has not specified if the entire EzDubs team will be joining. We have reached out for clarification and will provide updates if we receive a response.
EzDubs will discontinue its consumer applications—which enabled call translations in over 30 languages—by December 15.
“From introducing the world’s first video dubbing tool that attracted millions of views on X (formerly Twitter) to making real-time phone call translation possible in over 30 languages while preserving voice and emotion, this journey has been remarkable. What has mattered most, however, is the encouragement, feedback, and stories you have shared with us,” the company wrote in a blog post.
The translation industry has seen several acquisitions recently. Earlier this month, Palabra AI, backed by Seven Seven Six, acquired the live communication platform Talo. In July, TransPerfect, a language localization firm, purchased Unbabel, a translation startup from Portugal.
The purchase of EzDubs also prompts the question of whether consumer-focused translation services are sustainable, given that the enterprise communications sector offers greater financial opportunities and demand. Industry reports estimate the translation services market to be worth around $40 billion.
