Smartling
Founded 2009 · 453 employees on LinkedIn · 12 known investors
Smartling provides enterprise-grade localization and translation software with APIs, SDKs, and CI/CD integrations for software development teams. The platform enables companies to scale global products by automating translation workflows across their development pipeline.
Founders & leadership
Smartling was founded in 2009 by Jack Welde.
JW
Jack WeldeinFounder, CEO & President2009–2025Jack Welde founded Smartling, an enterprise localization and translation platform, and led it as CEO from 2009 to 2021 and as President through early 2025. He previously held roles including SVP Product at eMusic, COO/CTO of SheSpeaks, COO of RunTime Technologies, and co-founder of Trio Development, whose personal information manager was acquired by Apple; earlier he served as a US Air Force C-130E pilot, retiring as a Major.
Investors · 12
Accelerator VenturesMiami · $2M
Battery VenturesBoston · $500K – $100M
Harmony PartnersNew York
ICONIQSan Francisco
Ridge VenturesSan Francisco · $2M – $7M
Tenaya CapitalPalo Alto · $5M – $10M
US Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $500K – $10M
VenrockPalo Alto · $500K – $10M
First Round Capitalreported · 2 sourcesSan Francisco · $1M – $7M
ICONIQ Capitalreported · 2 sourcesSan Francisco · $5M – $100M
U.S. Venture PartnersreportedMinneapolis
Also in the syndicate · 1
IDG Ventures
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries BOct 2023
First Round Capital, IDG Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Venrock
Source ↗ - Undisclosed amountseries DOct 2023
ICONIQ Capital (lead), First Round Capital, Harmony Partners, IDG Ventures, Tenaya Capital, U.S. Venture Partners, Venrock
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Founder mafia
3 people who came through Smartling went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Lokalise1508 shared keywordsLokalise provides a localization platform that enables businesses to translate and adapt content for multiple markets and languages through automated workflows and integrations. The platform serves Fortune 500 companies and startups across web, mobile apps, games, and digital content.
Weglot1173 shared keywordsWeglot provides a website translation solution that makes sites compatible across all website technologies for multilingual audiences. It serves businesses looking to localize and translate their websites.
Babbel1067 shared keywordsBabbel is a subscription-based language learning app offering courses in 14 languages across beginner to advanced levels, using interactive lessons, speech recognition, AI conversation practice, and podcasts. Its content is created by language experts and educators to help users build practical conversation skills.
Smartcat985 shared keywordsSmartcat provides AI-powered language translation and localization software that converts content across multiple formats (documents, videos, websites, software) into any language for global enterprises. The platform combines automated translation with an enterprise library, linguistic oversight, and vendor management to serve large corporations requiring multilingual content operations.
Companies competing with Smartling for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Smartling do?
- Smartling provides enterprise-grade localization and translation software with APIs, SDKs, and CI/CD integrations for software development teams. The platform enables companies to scale global products by automating translation workflows across their development pipeline.
- Who founded Smartling?
- Smartling was founded by Jack Welde in 2009.
- Who are Smartling's investors?
- Smartling's investors include Accelerator Ventures, Battery Ventures, Harmony Partners, ICONIQ, Ridge Ventures, Tenaya Capital, US Venture Partners, Venrock and 3 more.