Agense Stracquadanio
8 min read
09 November 2025
Born from a visionary idea created by a linguist and computer scientist duo, Translated embodies the union of these two identities. With a background in Physics, Marco Trombetti has always been dedicated to developing technical solutions applied to various digital fields, such as the digital mapping market, information retrieval, image manipulation and machine learning models. The company has made its mark in the language industry by combining human creativity with AI to craft consistent quality translations at speed. Translated offers professional translation services in 238 languages and 40 areas of expertise to clients around the world, including localization, enterprise solutions and open-source developers’ tools. It pays translators fairly and rapidly and prides itself on being considered one of the best companies to work with by translators. It also contributes to the sector through open-source technologies and investing in future applied AI startups via its own venture fund. Based in Rome with a sales department in the US, the company is committed to breaking language barriers by creating a universal translator.
What brought you to found the company?
Love brought me to found the company. I’m a computer scientist, and my wife Isabelle is a linguist. I fell in love with her and wanted to spend more time together. So in 1999 we cofounded the first online translation company, combining both our backgrounds.
What’s your mission?
I strongly believe that overcoming language barriers is humanity’s most urgent challenge. True global cooperation requires deep global understanding and the ability to express ourselves in our own language. To achieve this, we need a universal translator.
What were the founding steps?
The company was launched with just a $100 investment, simply because I did not know that venture capital was even an option at the time. From the beginning, the focus was on building a profitable model that could sustain itself through reinvestment from day one.
How does your business reflect your personality?
Founders’ values are the company’s DNA. Since day one, Isabelle and I have shared a commitment to hard work, taking on challenges, optimism and simplicity.
“Thinking long-term really pays off.”
What were some of the biggest technical hurdles or challenges?
With the headquarters in Rome and most customers in the US, one key challenge has been bridging cultural gaps and aligning the team in Rome with the expectations and definition of quality held by our customers.
What lessons have you learned so far?
One of the biggest lessons came from not being fully transparent with the team. In 2007, Google expressed interest in acquiring Translated, and I felt the need to protect the team by not fully disclosing the details of the deal. I used to think I had to protect people from pain to make them happy, but the opposite is true.
What has been the most rewarding part of the journey so far?
From a business perspective, the most rewarding moment was signing the largest translation contract in history with Airbnb. On a human level, it's meaningful to see your team creating wealth and making progress in their lives. You realize that the value you're generating is flowing into the ecosystem. Some of the people who started with us now have families, and it feels good knowing you’ve contributed in some way.
What’s your favorite thing about your work routine?
Even before COVID, we realized that the office was not ideal for deep individual work. Sometimes you need hours of uninterrupted flow, and that’s hard to achieve in a space designed for collaboration such as the office or at home. So we created a dedicated space free of distractions, with a beautiful view of the sea. Perfect for creativity.
What is the relationship between your company and the city?
Rome is our heart. California is our brain. Not everything can be done in the US as there isn’t a deep understanding of the problem, nor access to the right resources to solve it.
What's next?
The focus is still on growth and building rather than on protecting our market position. It's time to return to Europe to invest in sales. At the same time, there’s still much to do in applied research toward the ultimate goal of building a universal translator.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
Thanks to the hyper-connected nature of today’s world, individuals can build remarkable things from wherever they are. In regions with limited access to capital, there is often also less competition. While not every place benefits from abundant financial resources, this scarcity can create unique business opportunities.
What do you think of the startup landscape in Europe?
It’s a work in progress, and there still are many untapped opportunities.
“Transparency is always a win. We must share the love and the pain, because it’s in sharing the pain that trust is built.”