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Translation Company With Boulder Roots Wins CSU Biz Competition

Kunal Sarda (left), co-founder of VerbalizeIt, won the Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge. Shown here on stage with Charisse Bowen of Galvanize and Ron Leach (right) of Extrude to Fill, who won $25,000 as runner-up.

Boulder and New York-based translation company VerbalizeIt beat out 14 other competitors to win Colorado State University's second annual Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge business pitch competition.

"We've brought together the best of translation technology with the quality of human translation to create the world's most accessible and scaleable human translation platform," co-founder Kunal Sarda said while making his first pitch in a TED-talk style presentation to a panel of judges.

The company uses a network of 24,000 translators worldwide to provide its customized translations. Its clients include the online educational company Udemy, the travel site TripAdvisor and the video platform Vimeo.  Sarda said VerbalizeIt will use the money to boost its sales team.

The second prize winner was the Loveland-based company Extrude To Fill, which has developed a new manufacturing method.

A University of Colorado business team won the student portion of the competition and a $20,000 prize. Native is a travel app backed with human assistance from locals. Taking second place in the student competition and winning $5,000 was the company Change Composites, which makes a safer helmet for extreme mountain bikers.

The Blue Ocean Challenge is a collaboration between Blue Ocean Enterprises, a company started by OtterBox Founder Curt Richardson and his wife Nancy, and Colorado State University. 

Stephanie Paige Ogburn has been reporting from Colorado for more than five years, primarily from the Western Slope.
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