The online translation service DeepL is worth a billion dollars.
The valuation of the company from Cologne has exceeded this threshold because other investors are investing in it.
DeepL is thus the first "unicorn" from the cathedral city.
The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger first reported on this on Thursday.
Marcus Young
Editor in Business.
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Accordingly, several investors are getting involved.
From the United States these are IVP and Bessemer, from Europe Atomico is added as a sponsor.
According to the Stadt-Anzeiger, it was not known on Thursday in what form they would take over shares in DeepL.
The American venture capital firm Benchmark has held a 13.5 percent stake in DeepL, which is managed by Jaroslaw Kutylowski, since 2018.
The Swiss investor network BtoV has been a donor since the early years.
The basic idea for DeepL came about when company founder Gereon Frahling returned from a study and work stay in America in the late 2000s and was looking for an alternative to Google Translate.
The market launch of the free online translator followed in August 2017. Users of a paid subscription have been able to use the full range of DeepL’s AI translation technology since spring 2018.
The service can now be used in 29 languages, and Ukrainian was added in mid-September.
The company, based in the Cologne district of Ehrenfeld, employs around 400 people.