lilt(机器翻译明星创业公司Lilt宣布A轮融资｜机器翻译试验)

导语：Lilt是一款面向翻译工作者的交互式机器翻译产品，2015年由前谷歌翻译工程师Spence Green等创立。今年10月，Spence Green在领英上发布此文，宣布Lilt公司宣布获得A轮融资（950万美元），并阐述了公司愿景，以及对产品和行业的深度观察。

Today I'm pleased to announce that we raised $9.5M in new funding led by Sequoia Capital. Bill Coughran, partner at Sequoia, will join our board. Our existing investors‒Redpoint Ventures, Zetta Venture Partners, and XSeed Capital‒all participated in the round.

今天我很高兴地宣布，我们在红杉资本（Sequoia Capital）牵头的新基金中筹集了950万美元。 sequoia的合伙人bill coughran将加入我们的董事会。我们现有的投资者Redpoint Ventures、Zetta Venture Partners和Xseed Capital均参与了该轮投资。

Series A funding indicates two milestones in an enterprise company's life: strong revenue and momentum, and a compelling plan for the deployment of new capital. It also marks the start of a new partnership, in this case among us, Bill, and Sequoia. We are thrilled because Bill is that unique leader who has contributed to science, managed large technical teams, and led businesses. Sequoia has also funded the businesses we admire most, among them Google, Apple, and Stripe. In this post, I'll describe what we've achieved, what we plan to do, and why we are certain that Bill is the right partner to help us do it.

A轮融资表明了企业公司生活中的两个里程碑：强劲的收入和动力，以及部署新资本的令人信服的计划。这也标志着一种新的伙伴关系的开始，在这种情况下，我们之间，比尔和红杉。我们很高兴，因为比尔是独一无二的领导者，他为科学做出了贡献，管理着大型技术团队，领导着企业。红杉公司还资助了我们最崇拜的企业，其中包括谷歌、苹果和Stripe。在这篇文章中，我将描述我们已经取得的成就，我们计划做什么，以及为什么我们确信比尔是帮助我们做到这一点的正确伙伴。

How We Got Here

我们是怎么来的

John and I started Lilt because we believe that a person's native language shouldn't limit their ability to learn, grow, and support themselves. Were I to have been born speaking Malagasy, and I had to learn English to study computer science, then I would have been disadvantaged from the start. This is a overlooked form of social inequity: you cannot control your native language. Social problems rarely have satisfactory technical solutions. However, steady advances in computational linguistics, our field, have brought us to a time in which universal information access no longer seems like a fantasy.

约翰和我开始Lilt是因为我们认为一个人的母语不应该限制他们学习、成长和支持自己的能力。如果我生来就说马达加斯加语，我必须学习英语才能学习计算机科学，那么我从一开始就处于不利的地位。这是一种被忽视的社会不平等形式：你不能控制你的母语。社会问题很少有令人满意的技术解决办法。然而，计算语言学（我们的领域）的稳步发展，使我们进入了一个普遍的信息访问不再是幻想的时代。

Our contribution is to enable businesses to offer the same experience to all customers and employees irrespective of language. Revolutionary consumer tools like Google Translate have empowered people to pull translated information instantly and on-demand. There is no quality guarantee, but that is an acceptable compromise given the speed and convenience benefits. Now we want to give businesses these benefits yet with quality guarantees. This guarantee is not free, but the degree to which we can make it affordable is directly correlated with the degree to which a business can democratize its information.

我们的贡献是使企业能够为所有客户和员工提供相同的体验，而不分语言。谷歌翻译等革命性的消费工具使人们能够立即按需提取翻译后的信息。没有质量保证，但考虑到速度和方便的好处，这是可接受的折衷。现在，我们要给企业带来这些好处，同时还要保证质量。这种保证并不是免费的，但我们能够使其负担得起的程度与企业使其信息民主化的程度直接相关。

In the fall of 2017 we began offering a complete, high-quality, and affordable solution for enterprise translation. Our customers have worked wonders. For example:

Zendesk now uses a human+machine solution to translate all of their very large knowledge base into 10 languages (up from six).

Canva is translating 100% of their Smart Templates into more than 20 languages.

A major financial media company has reduced the time-to-publish from two days to less than an hour.

2017年秋季，我们开始为企业翻译提供一个完整、高质量、负担得起的解决方案。我们的客户创造了奇迹。例如：

Zendesk现在使用人+机器解决方案将他们非常大的知识库翻译成10种语言（从6种语言增加到6种）。

• canva将100%的智能模板翻译成20多种语言。

一家主流的财经媒体公司把出版时间从两天缩短到不到一个小时。

There are others, including governments, who will be announced in the coming weeks and months. Each business is unique, but each of our brave early adopters believes on principle that information should be universally accessible. They are willing to embrace radically new approaches to translation to achieve that goal.

还有一些人，包括政府，将在未来几周和几个月内宣布。每一项业务都是独一无二的，但我们每个勇敢的早期用户都坚信信息应该是普遍可及的。他们愿意采用全新的翻译方法来实现这一目标。

We succeed when our customers succeed. Our revenue has doubled in each of the last three quarters. In June, our revenue was twice all of 2017, and our translators produced 1.2M words of high-quality translation. We've grown from six employees to 21, released two neural MT systems, and published an exciting new paper on adaptive learning. We work with more than 300 highly skilled domain specialists, which represent less than 5% of the people who have applied to work with us. We've expanded our offices in both San Francisco and Berlin.

当客户成功时，我们也会成功。过去三个季度我们的收入都翻了一番。今年6月，我们的收入是2017年的两倍，我们的翻译人员翻译了120万高质量的单词。我们已经从6名员工成长到21名，发布了两个神经机器翻译系统，并发表了一篇关于适应性学习的令人兴奋的新论文。我们与300多名高技能的领域专家合作，这些专家在申请与我们合作的人员中所占比例不到5%。我们在旧金山和柏林都扩大了办事处。

Where We're Going

我们要去的地方

Enterprise localization is a complex production process. Our choice to integrate vertically means that we must internalize the complexity of the whole process: from the development of new algorithms to sophisticated customer support and workflow integration. This requires operational discipline, a service disposition toward our customers, and coordinated investments. The first two requirements will be the responsibility of the people we hire and the culture we build. The investments in people, data, algorithms, and workflow are enabled by both the growth of our business and by fresh funding.

企业本地化是一个复杂的生产过程。我们选择垂直集成意味着我们必须将整个过程的复杂性内在化：从新算法的开发到复杂的客户支持和工作流集成。这需要操作纪律、对客户的服务配置以及协调的投资。前两个要求将是我们雇用的人和我们建立的文化的责任。对人员、数据、算法和工作流的投资是通过业务的增长和新的资金来实现的。

People

人群

We built Lilt for translators, and we seek to offer the best work environment for them. This means:

Recurring work and an associated feeling of recognition and ownership

Fast and direct customer interaction

A world-class, human-centric translation workflow

48-hour payment terms

我们为翻译人员搭建了平台，为他们提供最好的工作环境。这意味着:

• 重现工作及相关的认同感和所有权

• 快速、直接的客户互动

• 世界级的、以人为中心的翻译流程

• 48小时付款条件

Our translators directly inform our product choices. If our product helps translators do great work, then our business customers derive greater value.

我们的翻译人员直接告知我们的产品选择。如果我们的产品帮助翻译人员做伟大的工作，那么我们的业务客户获得更大的价值。

At Lilt, translators will never be asked to post-edit. We believe that the MT post-editing / rate reduction business model leads to the sweatshopification of language work. That's bad for the world.

在Lilt，译者永远不会被要求后编辑。我们认为，MT后编辑/降低费用的商业模式导致了语言工作的血汗工厂模式。对整个世界都不利。

We also built Lilt as a place where our employees can do the best work of their careers. We're hiring more people, but we're also investing heavily in the personal growth of each member of our current team. All of us care deeply about language, and the pairing of that mission with a deeply technical culture is what leads to innovation. Join us if care you about language, too.

我们还建立了Lilt作为一个地方，我们的员工可以做最好的工作，他们的职业生涯。我们正在招聘更多的员工，但我们也在当前团队中的每个成员的个人成长上投入了大量的资金。我们都非常关心语言，而这一使命与深刻的技术文化的结合正是导致创新的原因。如果你也关心语言，就加入我们吧。

Data

数据

Machine translation research takes place in the open, so differences between systems are almost entirely explained by data advantages. Because our technology is adaptive, it can specialize as it is used. This yields a unique dataset for developing not only machine translation systems, but also more general workflow tools. For example, we are investing heavily in multilingual error correction tools to automate quality control.

机器翻译研究是公开进行的，因此系统之间的差异几乎完全由数据优势来解释。因为我们的技术是适应性的，所以它可以在使用时专门化。这产生了一个独特的数据集，不仅用于开发机器翻译系统，还用于开发更通用的工作流工具。例如，我们大量投资于多语言纠错工具来自动化质量控制。

We also need to accumulate more general domain training data to serve (a) businesses who are new to translation, and (b) languages for which few data exist. We will invest heavily in both areas.

我们还需要积累更广泛的领域培训数据，以服务于（a）对翻译不熟悉的企业，以及（b）数据很少的语言。我们将在这两个领域大量投资。

Algorithms

算法

Our core research team has published over 130 papers, and has 70+ years of experience in MT research. Research is the heart of our company. Bill is a unique partner in that regard, having completed a PhD in computer science at Stanford under Gene Golub. He then led Bell Labs, and then engineering at Google before joining Sequoia in 2011.

我们的核心研究团队已经发表了超过130篇论文，并且在机器翻译研究方面有超过70年的经验。研究是我们公司的核心。在这方面，比尔是独一无二的合伙人，他曾在Gene Golub名下的斯坦福大学获得计算机科学博士学位。然后他领导贝尔实验室，然后在2011年加入红杉之前在谷歌做工程师。

Now is the most exciting time in the 70-year history of MT research. We believe that human+machine systems are best built holistically, so we will continue to developer our decoder and associated NLP components. If you are a world-class researcher who also likes to build, and you want both creative freedom and the dynamism of a startup, then we want to talk to you. Join us.

现在是MT研究70年历史中最激动人心的时刻。我们相信人+机器系统是最好的整体构建，所以我们将继续开发我们的解码器和相关的NLP产品。如果你是一个世界一流的研究人员，你也喜欢建设，你想要创造性的自由和创业的活力，那么我们想和你谈谈。加入我们吧。

Workflow

工作流

Localization is a horizontal business function: businesses of all sizes and in all markets do it. Every workflow is different, not because translation work differs fundamentally across businesses, but because organizations are fundamentally different. Unique collections of people, processes, and systems give rise to unique requirements. Some organizations outsource while others have partial or complete in-house teams. Some organizations are stuck with legacy or purpose-built information systems while others use new SaaS systems. Some are led by former translators and project managers while others are led by people who interest in language is strictly operational. Some IT departments permit hosted solutions while other demand on-prem.

本地化是一个横向的业务功能：所有规模和市场的企业都这样做。每个工作流都是不同的，不是因为不同的企业之间的翻译工作根本不同，而是因为组织根本不同。人员、流程和系统的独特集合产生了独特的需求。一些组织外包，而其他有部分或完整的内部团队。一些组织坚持使用遗留的或专门构建的信息系统，而另一些组织使用新的SaaS系统。有些是由前翻译人员和项目经理领导的，而另一些则是由对语言有兴趣的人领导的。一些IT部门允许托管解决方案，而其他需求是预发布的。

To that end, we have built a component-based, API-first product that can be adapted to a broad range of business settings. For example, Sprinklr uses our web application for translation and project management. They use a mixture of in-house teams (for two languages), internally managed freelancers, and Lilt-managed professionals. They use both manual and API-level content flows. Crucially, this is all achieved through one product with one, unified pricing model for easy budgeting.

为此，我们构建了一个基于组件的、API优先的产品，可以适应广泛的业务设置。例如，Sprinklr使用我们的web应用程序进行翻译和项目管理。他们使用内部团队（两种语言）、内部管理的自由职业者和倾斜管理的专业人士的混合。它们使用手动和API级别的内容流。最重要的是，这都是通过一个产品，一个统一的定价模型，便于提供预算。

Over the next 12 months, we'll invest heavily in the following:

Data security and enterprise readiness ‒ some of the most secure businesses and government agencies already trust us, and there is still more that we can do to protect our customers.

Reporting and supply chain visibility

File conversion and content connectors

Of course, we'll continue to build out our core translation workflow (in collaboration with our translators) and our API.

在未来12个月内，我们将在以下领域投入巨资： 数据安全性和企业准备性——一些最安全的企业和政府机构已经信任我们，我们还可以做更多的事情来保护我们的客户。

• 报告和供应链可见性

• 文件转换和内容连接器

当然，我们将继续构建我们的核心翻译工作流（与我们的翻译人员协作）和我们的API。

Our New Partnership

我们的新伙伴关系

Venture capitalists invest in venture-backable businesses. Because it is riskier to invest in a startup than, say, Starbucks, the expectation of a reward is much higher. Successful startups must have some uniquely defensible competitive advantage, and they must address a market large enough to generate outsized returns. Some markets are appropriate for venture capital and others are not. Enterprise software and digital advertising are two markets with successful venture-backed companies. Landscaping and commercial fishing, while large markets, are not (although modern venture capital has its origins in 19th century whaling).

风险投资家投资风险支持的企业。因为投资一家初创公司比投资星巴克更有风险，所以对回报的期望要高得多。成功的创业公司必须有一些独特的可捍卫的竞争优势，他们必须解决一个大到足以产生巨大回报的市场。有些市场适合风险投资，有些则不适合。企业软件和数字广告是风投支持公司成功的两个市场。景观美化和商业捕鱼虽然市场庞大，却不是（尽管现代风险资本起源于19世纪捕鲸）。

The jury is still out on localization. It is a large yet highly fragmented market. As currently organized, it has no inherent economies of scale, and thus has never produced either a billion-dollar business or a good venture-backed exit. It has been slow to embrace technology, and has thus ceded development of core language technology to companies such as Google and Microsoft that have no intrinsic interest in the market. It is often characterized by cozy vendor/buyer relationships that stifle innovation and progress. This is disappointing, for the localization problem is so vital, and thus rapid progress would obviously benefit humanity.

目前还在考虑本地化问题。这是一个庞大但高度分散的市场。按照目前的组织方式，它没有固有的规模经济，因此从来没有产生过数十亿美元的业务或良好的风险支持退出。它接受技术的速度很慢，因此把核心语言技术的发展让给了谷歌（Google）和微软（Microsoft）等对市场毫无兴趣的公司。它的特点往往是舒适的卖主/买主关系，扼杀创新和进步。这是令人失望的，因为本地化问题是如此重要，因此迅速的进展显然将有益于人类。

Bill is among the vanguard of investors who believe that the impact of AI will be most profound in the enterprise. Tools are being built that allow 20 people to do the work of 100. This is the augmentation view of AI first advocated by Doug Engelbart in the 1960s, and which is now becoming a reality. Specifically, machine translation is having its moment after 70 years of work by pioneering figures in computer science. Bill believes that Lilt is uniquely positioned to help businesses operationalize those advances, and that more businesses than ever can be equipped to go into more markets than ever.

比尔是投资者中的先锋，他们相信人工智能在企业中的影响将是最深远的。正在建造的工具允许20个人做100人的工作。这是由Doug Engelbart在20世纪60年代首次提出的人工智能的增强观点，现在已经成为现实。具体来说，机器翻译是在计算机科学领域的先驱人物工作了70年之后才出现的。比尔认为，Lilt在帮助企业实现这些进步方面是独一无二的，而且比以往任何时候都更多的企业能够进入更多的市场。

This is a unique time in the history of both commerce and technology. True, success results in financial reward, but this is one of those unique cases in which the benefit to humanity is incommensurately greater.

这是商业和科技史上独一无二的时代。诚然，成功带来了金钱上的回报，但这是其中一个独特的案例，在这些案例中，对人类的好处是无与伦比的。

This started for me in both a literal and figurative desert in 2005. Over the past 13 years I have used, researched, built, and commercialized language systems. Only in the last few months has Lilt began to startle me. I still translate, and just yesterday while working there were several moments in which the system proposed things that I never would have thought of.

这是从2005年我在一个文字和形象的沙漠中开始的。在过去的13年中，我使用、研究、建立和商业化了语言系统。在过去的几个月里，Lilt才开始惊讶到我。我还在翻译，就在昨天，当我在那里工作的时候，系统提出了一些我从来没有想过的东西。

For many years I was like the proud parent who gave his child the benefit of the doubt. The shortcomings were obvious, but the growth and progress were significant. Now not only the technology but also the business is emerging as its own entity with capabilities separate from and unexpected by me.

多年来，我就像一位自豪的家长，给孩子带来了怀疑。缺点是明显的，但增长和进步是显著的。现在，不仅是技术，而且业务也正在成为它自己的实体，它的能力与我不同，也出乎我的意料。

I thank our team, investors, and customers. I thank Bill and his team for offering their world-class experience in company-building. And I thank John for the most fruitful collaboration of my life.

我感谢我们的团队，投资者和客户。我感谢比尔和他的团队在公司建设方面提供了世界级的经验。我感谢约翰和我之间富有成果的合作。

We enable our customers to serve theirs. Then their customers have knowledge, they are empowered, and when they are empowered, progress is made.

Let's make progress together.

我们使客户能够为他们自己服务。然后他们的客户获取信息，他们被赋能，当他们被赋能，进步就会发生。

让我们一起进步吧。

原文链接：https://www.linkedin.com/wukong-web/articleShare/6453645288031813632?trk

译文由Yeekit机器翻译自动翻译，观察君轻度编辑。