AI translation service Iyuno SDI chair expects continued surge in demand

“As demand for over-the-top (OTT) services grows, so will the bid for companies that provide translated subtitles in multiple languages,” said David Lee, founder and chairman of Iyuno SDI Group. 

Adding that languages change over time, the 46-year-old said his dream is to build a media company that reflects those changes over the course of a century, during an interview with The Korea Economic Daily on Monday.

The Seoul-based startup provides translated subtitles and other media localization services for streaming content for major platform operators worldwide. 

Iyuno SDI has 67 offices in 34 countries; with this year’s revenue forecast to be around 600 billion won ($503 million).

SERIES B FUNDING

Earlier this month, the startup raised 140 billion won from Seoul-based IMM Investment Corp. This is in addition to the $160 million it raised from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 last year. 

The corporate value currently stands at 1.2 trillion won – making it one of South Korea’s unicorns. 

Iyuno SDI does translation works in 100 languages from English to the Tongan language of Africa. Including freelancers, it employs about 30,000 people.

Its clientele includes some of the biggest names in the OTT industry; namely Netflix, Inc., the Walt Disney Co., Amazon Studios, and Apple TV. 

In Lee’s words, “It’s harder to find companies that are not working with us.” 

According to the entrepreneur, Iyuno SDI is the biggest provider of translated subtitles in the world, taking up over 15% of the global market share. 

When asked about the company’s identity, Lee said Iyuno plays the role of a goalkeeper. 

Rather than simply providing word-by-word translations, the founder said his company plays a big role in localizing the content. 

“If the content is shown in China, we check whether there is anything politically sensitive. If it broadcasts to Muslim nations, we make sure there aren’t any scenes where pork is consumed,” he said. 

For example, when Disney+ was launched, the company went over video files that dated back 30 to 40 years. 

NASA DREAMS REDIRECTED 

Graduate of the prestigious Yonsei University, Lee initially dreamed of working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. 

Ahead of his study abroad, Lee began working part-time at a mom-and-pop translation agency. When their pay was delayed, however, he and two other friends joined hands to create their own agency in 2002.

The name Iyuno was coined by taking the first syllables of the three friends' names.

“I thought I’d do it for six months before beginning my study abroad but I began to enjoy the business too much,” he said.

Utilizing his background as an engineering student, he even created software to edit video content and sold the technology to CJ PowerCast Inc., part of the CJ Corp. conglomerate.

Fast forward to 2022, the company’s proprietary cloud-based software allows it to perform localization services, including subtitles, dubbing and accessibility features, at scale.

Not only that, it also built its own neural machine translation engines, trained on data from specific entertainment genres. 

As it stands, AI-powered translation and localization is one of the company's biggest selling points. 

Unfortunately, not everyone saw the value in the tech in the early days. 

Employees lost confidence in a founder who stayed holed up in a small room to create software; rather than actively engaging in management. They quit by large numbers and the monthly revenue shrunk from 40 million won to 2 million won at one point.

Lee even lost an exclusive contract by not being able to attend the funeral of a client company's executive-level officer. 

“If there were 100 ways to lose money, I felt like I experienced 99 of them,” reminisced Lee.

After eight years of accumulating debt, Lee left for Singapore in 2011 as the last resort. 

Back in the day, about 70% of multinational broadcasters had their Asia headquarters in Singapore, including his last overseas client, Discovery, Inc. 

Through aggressive sales, he secured orders from Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., which injected much-needed funds into the company. 

“At that time, Sony tried to launch channels in Southeast Asia riding on the Korean Wave,” Lee explained. “The company had already signed contracts with Korean broadcasters but was still looking for an agency with local offices that can provide translated subtitles.”

The fact that Iyuno had 10 years under its belt in the media industry helped immensely, he recalled.

AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION

Since Iyuno began exploring overseas markets 11 years ago, it has grown exponentially. In addition to the AI-powered software, a large part of the growth was thanks to a series of acquisitions. 

In 2019, it acquired London-based BTI Studios to form Iyuno Media Group. Lee became the group’s executive chairman and Shaun Gregory, former CEO of BTI Studios, became the group’s CEO. 

Last year, it acquired Los Angeles-based SDI Media Group, Inc. to form Iyuno SDI Group. 

BTI Studios was the industry leader in Europe and SDI Media Group was the biggest player in the States. 

Iyuno is considering additional M&As in Latin America and continental Europe.

In the latter half of 2023, it is targeting a Nasdaq listing and is currently in the process of selecting its underwriters. 

Despite all this development, some may ask how an AI-powered translation agency can compete against actual AIs that do end-to-end translations? 

Lee said the agency’s work is not just a word-by-word translation but that it also involves cultural sensitivities and localization.

“Perhaps AIs can take over what we do when they can write best-selling novels,” the entrepreneur said. “Until then, the likelihood of AIs replacing media translation is zero.”

Write to Jong-woo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.