DeepL, a hot AI translation startup pioneered by a former Googler, is closing in on a round above $100 million led by Netflix-backer IVP near a $1 billion valuation

• Translation startup DeepL is closing in on a new funding round led by US giant IVP, sources say.
• The German company, founded in 2017, aims to unseat Google as the dominant force in translation.
• DeepL previously sold a portion of its business to US investor Benchmark.

A German startup that wants to unseat Google as the dominant force in translation services is closing in on a funding round of $100 million or higher led by Silicon Valley investing giant IVP, Insider understands.

Cologne-based DeepL offers translations across a number of European and Asian languages. Like Google Translate, DeepL offers a free translation service powered by artificial intelligence. The service was originally formed out of online dictionary Linguee in 2016 and bills its translations as more nuanced and more capable of capturing the spirit of words.

Up until 2019, DeepL was run by Linguee founder and ex-Google research scientist Gereon Frahling. The startup is now run by ex-Linguee chief technology officer Jaroslaw Kutylowski.