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Boostlingo

Breaking Language Barriers at Scale: Boostlingo’s Journey

Founded: 2016
Invested: 2021
Status: Current
Location: Austin, TX
Overview

Boostlingo provides language access solutions, including interpreting, translation, and AI-powered language technology to businesses, healthcare providers, and organizations worldwide. Boostlingo’s software connects users with professional language services to ensure effective communication and break down language barriers in any setting.

Outcome

Boostlingo has transformed from a promising bootstrapped company to an industry leader. In August 2024, Boostlingo ranked #839 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, also achieving the distinction of being ranked as the No. 93 software company on the list.

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At-A-Glance

Mainsail and Boostlingo worked together to:

  • Expand the team with an Executive Chairperson, CRO, CFO, Chief People Officer, VP of Legal & Compliance and AI technology advisors
  • Establish an AI Advisory Board and AI product roadmap
  • Help prepare for Boostlingo’s first AI product launch with market, channel, and partnership planning
  • Support pricing, GTM strategy, and revenue optimization for additional new products
  • Identify and close two acquisitions to expand service formats and accelerate innovation
  • Develop strategies for notable improvements in gross margins
  • Evaluate adjacent markets and related strategies to accelerate growth
THE STORY

Founded in 2016 by Bryan Forrester, Brian D’Agostino and Dieter Runge, Boostlingo emerged from a simple observation: language barriers prevent equal access to essential services. The trio created the platform to support several interpretation methods—over-the-phone, video, and on-site management—through a single, intuitive interface.

By 2021, Boostlingo had established itself as a key player in the language interpretation software industry, partnering with multiple providers, government agencies and healthcare institutions. The company had nearly quadrupled its interpretation minutes year-over-year and was rapidly expanding to meet increasing demand. Boostlingo sought a capital partner to help it capitalize on the various growth opportunities in front of it.

In May 2021, Mainsail Partners invested in Boostlingo to help power its next phase of growth and scale.

MAINSAIL'S VALUE ADD
Executive Team Build-Out

Supported by Mainsail’s Talent Team, Boostlingo expanded its executive leadership team by hiring an executive chairperson, CRO, CFO, Chief People Officer, VP of Legal & Compliance. Mainsail also supported the company in conducting 360-degree assessments of the CEO and management team, while seven executives and 19 managers completed Mainsail’s Leadership Acceleration Program (LEAP) for leadership development.

AI Integration

Mainsail supported the formation of Boostlingo’s AI Advisory Board by helping the company develop an AI-powered product roadmap and recruited technical and strategic resources to the Board. Aligned with the Advisory Board’s formation in 2024, Boostlingo launched an AI-powered live translation product, Boostlingo AI Pro, and new AI-driven features in its product suite designed to enhance interpreting and translation services.

Mature Go-To-Market

Mainsail helped develop pricing, packaging and GTM plans for newly acquired products, and updated pricing for select customer segments. The team built marketing and sales funnels, as well as capacity models, to optimize revenue opportunities. Mainsail also supported market analysis to prepare for the launch of Boostlingo’s first AI product and developed channel and partnership strategies.

Strategic Acquisitions

Mainsail helped Boostlingo identify and close two acquisitions: Interpreter Intelligence, a provider of interpretation management technology, and VoiceBoxer, which offers remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI). These acquisitions enabled Boostlingo to become a single platform, offering customers access to interpretation services in the format of their choice — in person, video, phone, or RSI. Additionally, it helped accelerate innovation while maintaining the combined company’s focus on service and collaboration with language services professionals, who could offer wide-ranging interpretation options through Boostlingo’s on-demand delivery, management and scheduling products.

“Choosing Mainsail as Boostlingo’s investment partner was one of the best decisions we have made along our journey. Mainsail’s operational experience has helped us uncover new market opportunities, they have a strong talent team that has helped us bring on seasoned executive leaders, and they have an extensive network that has given us access to new partnership opportunities. Mainsail’s founder- friendly approach has provided the support and guidance we needed to scale.”

Bryan Forrester
Co-Founder and CEO, Boostlingo
OUTCOME

Since partnering with Mainsail Partners, Boostlingo has achieved significant growth and expanded its workforce nearly 500% from 32 to 156 employees in 2024. In 2024, the company expanded its customer base by 71%, fueled by the launch of innovative AI-driven solutions and integrations, a strategic brand update, and the continued expansion of its services.

In August 2024, Boostlingo ranked #839 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, also achieving the distinction of being ranked as the No. 93 software company on the list. This was the third year in a row that Boostlingo broke the top 1,000 on that list.

Boostlingo has transformed from a promising bootstrapped company to an industry leader. As Boostlingo looks to the future, the company remains focused on further expanding its product offerings, enhancing AI capabilities, and strengthening partnerships to drive continued growth and innovation in the language services industry.