Pocketalk, the Japanese company behind the eponymous “two-way voice translator,” has raised JPY 2.5bn (USD 15.8m) in funding from Kado Investment, a Tokyo-based investment firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The raise comes as a surprise. It was only in March 2024 that Pocketalk was reportedly considering an IPO at a USD 500m valuation.

Instead of that IPO, Pocketalk keeps raising from investment firms. According to a December 2024 announcement, the voice translator has raised nearly USD 60m to date.

The Kado investment came on the heels of two October 2024 funding rounds: First, a USD 2m investment by Shochiku, followed by USD 6.3m from Fujisoft. According to the press release, Fujisoft and Pocketalk signed an agreement in April 2024 related to Pocketalk’s hardware and software needs. 

Noriyuki Matsuda, CEO of software development company Sourcenext, founded Pocketalk in 2018. By mid-2020, Pocketalk was featured in a Newsweek roundup of 50 companies doing good during the Covid-19 pandemic, for donating “850 of its devices to medical facilities, first responders[,] and testing sites.”

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In a more detailed 2021 write-up, Matsuda told Newsweek that the pandemic helped move Pocketalk beyond Japan, “where […] the company has a 97% market share.” In addition to its Tokyo headquarters, Pocketalk also has offices in Palo Alto and London.

According to the press release, Pocketalk plans to use the most recent funding to expand its US presence and accelerate its expansion into Asian markets, including Thailand, Korea, and Singapore, plus Europe, where Pocketalk believes demand for multilingual support is growing due to increasing immigration and tourism.

Pocketalk launched its latest model, Pocket Talk S2, in 2024. This version can perform speech and text translation for 74 languages, and can be used without WiFi in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide. 

In the US, the Pocketalk Plus model retails on Amazon for USD 299; the Pocketalk S Two-Way Voice Translator with Built-in Data, for USD 241. 

Reviews, perhaps as to be expected, are mixed. Per an AI-generated summary of customers’ feedback, “Some find it useless and an expensive paperweight. Others have mixed views on translation accuracy, functionality, and ease of use.”