Translation firm Tarjama raises $5m in first funding round

Saudi Arabia's Anova Investments led the round for the language services provider

Tarjama CEO Nour Alhassan said the tie-up with Anova will help the company's expansion. courtesy: Tarjama.

Tarjama, a Middle East translation business, raised $5 million (Dh18.37) in an initial funding round led by Saudi Arabia’s Anova Investments, the company said on Monday.

Abu Dhabi-based Tarjama, which has an office in twofour54, said the investment round will be used to pursue growth opportunities, scale its operations and enhance its technology platforms.

“The strategic partnership with Anova will further strengthen Tarjama’s ability to expand and support its offerings in all markets, especially in the Saudi market. We are confident this partnership will further consolidate Tarjama’s position as the leading service and technology provider trusted by customers in the region and across the globe,” said Nour Alhassan, the chief executive of Tarjama.

According to the 2018 Mena Venture Investment Report from Magnitt, the Middle East's largest start-up data platform, $893m was invested across 366 deals last year, an increase of 31 per cent in total funding when compared to 2017. The UAE led the region with 30 per cent of the deals and 70 per cent of the funding.

Tarjama, which means “translation” in Arabic and was first launched in Jordan in 2008, now has a presence in eight countries. The company said its technology platforms will focus on Arabic content and translation services, including the Ureed platform, the region’s first online editorial marketplace for translation and content services. The funding will also help the company launch its Arabic machine translation engine using artificial intelligence.

Tarjama has translated more than 500 million words via its translation services, which work with more than 150 languages, including Asian, African and European language pairs. The company employs upwards of 130 full-time translation specialists and experts at its offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the United States.

The company, which has been self-funded to date, said Saudi investment company Anova Investments, which focuses on the tech industry in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and the US, will offer it valuable resources and “access to the Saudi Market”.

Nouf Aljeraiwi, executive director of Anova Investments, said Tarjama evolved from a traditional business model to “a highly advanced technologically driven platform featuring accuracy, speed and flexibility”.

“As Tarjama strengthens its presence in the Saudi market, Anova Investments will support this important phase to accelerate Tarjama’s growth," Ms Aljeraiwi said.