Startup Viki Uses Web, Volunteers To Subtitle Films

The startup company Viki uses the power of the Web and the passion of film buffs to create subtitles for non-English-language films. Based in Singapore and the U.S., its catch-phrase is "Entertainment Beyond Borders." Its volunteer translators — 100,000 of them — enter subtitles while watching shows collectively online. Viki hopes to make money by licensing videos and sharing advertising revenue. This week, it raised $4.3 million dollars in venture capital funding.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And our last word in business is entertainment without borders.

Entertainment beyond borders is actually the phrase used by the folks at the startup company Viki - not Wiki, like in Wikipedia, but Viki. It's based in Singapore and the U.S., and it uses the power of the Web and the passion of film buffs to create subtitles for non-English language films. Volunteer translators enter subtitles as they watch the shows collectively, online. A spokesperson for Viki says it has about 100,000 active subtitlers writing away, without pay.

Viki hopes to make money by licensing videos and sharing advertising revenue with the video producers. Some investors are becoming fans. This week, Viki raised $4.3 million in venture capital funding.

And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Copyright © 2010 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.