It’s not a spelling mistake, it’s a typo. That’s my line and I’m sticking to it. But what if proofreading, along with copywriting and translation, could be offered akin to a Software-as-a-Service, API included? That’s the ambitious aim of TextMaster which this week uncloaked its technology stack to enable third-parties to start building apps that integrate the full functionality of its service.
TextMaster offers a platform for content creators to crowdsource their copywriting, translation and proofreading needs via its community of ‘professionals’ who have each gone through a quality vetting process and are paid per-word. One way to think of the service is a Mechanical Turk for a very specific niche, while the bigger vision is to disrupt the respective copywriting, translation and proofreading industries. As an example, the translation industry is thought to be a $20B market.
Some of TextMaster’s competitors include Greatcontent, and Textbroker (copywriting), Wordy (proofreading), and Gengo (translation), which already offers an API.
Launched six months ago, TextMaster says that its platform has processed 6.5 million words by over 22,000 translators, copywriters, and proofreaders for more than 2,000 customers, while those doing the work tend to be journalists, writers, teachers and students.
Its customers range from e-commerce companies, bloggers, advertising and communication agencies, and editors. “Potentially any company can need our services to translate a website or to write a brochure or a newsletter”, says co-founder and CEO Benoît Laurent.
But of course, with an API that existing apps and new ones can tap into, that customer base could grow significantly, presuming there is developer interest. The types of apps that Laurent envisages include integration with blogging platforms like WordPress, Dotclear, Typepad, etc., or an email client. In addition, the company is soon to release an iPhone ‘dictaphone’ app that will offer transcription of audio files “within minutes”, which takes the startup into a whole different space.
The company is also in contact with “many global platforms”, says Laurent, such as e-commerce, and vacation rental sites, in order to remove the language barrier to using these services. To date, TextMaster is available in 8 languages and 5 countries: France, Germany, USA, UK and Spain.
The Brussels-headquartered company was founded in June 2011 by Benoît Laurent (CEO), Alexandre Ponsin (CTO), Thibaud Elzière (Product & Strategy) and Quentin Nickmans (Advisor).