Zoom Buys German Speech Translation Firm KITES

Zoom Video Communications has acquired German machine translation tech startup Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions (KITES) for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is meant to assist Zoom users by providing multilanguage translation capabilities.

"We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and [machine translation] solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe" said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of product and engineering at Zoom, in a statement. "With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless regardless of language, geographic location, or other barriers, we are confident KITES' impressive team will fit right in with Zoom."

"KITES emerged with the mission of breaking down language barriers and making seamless cross-language interaction a reality of everyday life, and we have long admired Zoom for its ability to easily connect people across the world," said KITES co-founders Alex Waibel andSebastian Stüker in a statement. "We know Zoom is the best partner for KITES to help advance our mission, and we are excited to see what comes next under Zoom's incredible innovation engine."