DeepL SE, the developer of artificial intelligence translation and writing solutions for enterprise, said today that it has raised $300 million in new investments, bringing its post-money valuation to $2 billion.

The funding round was led by Index Ventures, with support from additional late-stage investors that included Iconiq Growth, Teachers’ Venture Growth and existing investors IVP, Atomico and WiL.

The German startup has seen significant success in its product led by interest in its services as an alternative to general purpose AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can do translation and writing but is not specifically designed for the task. DeepL’s platform is tailored for business writing acumen and built on a custom large language model, with underlying support for over 32 languages, with the recent addition of Arabic, as well as Korean and Norwegian.

“We’re approaching an inflection point in the AI boom where businesses who are racing to adopt the technology begin to discern between hype versus solutions that are secure and actually solve real problems in their business,” said founder and Chief Executive Jarek Kutylowski. “This new investment comes during what is on track to be DeepL’s most transformative year yet and is a testament to the crucial role that our Language AI platform has in solving the complex linguistic challenges global companies face today.”

DeepL said the company has seen significant growth in its customer network and amassed more than 100,000 businesses, governments and organizations worldwide. Customers include big names such as customer support software company Zendesk Inc., Tokyo-based media company Nikkei Inc., online course provider Coursera Inc. and German railway company Deutsche Bahn. In 2024, DeepL expanded its footprint in the United States, now its third largest market, and opened its first office in the region.

Enterprise businesses operate globally, which means there is often a linguistic divide across regions when it comes to communication. The need to translate internal business communications, marketing and other messaging has become ever more important for swift, accurate operations. A recent IBM study found that 42% of global enterprise businesses are actively deploying AI and 40% are exploring solutions.

“At Zendesk we see firsthand the power of infusing AI tools into customer experience, and DeepL’s industry-leading translation is a prime example,” said Adrian McDermott, chief technology officer at Zendesk. “The ability to have accurate AI translation allows companies from startups to large enterprises the ability to scale globally, reaching prospects and existing customers in new ways.”

DeepL said it will take the fresh funding and roll it into research and development for its product line to strengthen its AI communication and translation tools for enterprise business. The company also intends to continue its global expansion trend and recruitment drive, including bringing in more talent across AI research, product, engineering and marketing.

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