Bay Area hardware startups are accelerating plans to sell their products overseas, seeking new opportunities for growth after seeing unexpectedly strong international demand.

Thermostat maker Nest Labs Inc. and Leap Motion Inc., which makes a motion-control device for computers, are hiring staff to handle sales and administrative functions, such as overseas partnerships, regulatory compliance and customs issues. They are also tailoring their product websites and modifying their software to handle local languages and data.

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