Welocalize Strengthens Leadership Team to Position for Next Era of Language Services

Minneapolis, MN, and New York, NY, April 6, 2023: Welocalize, ranked as one of the world’s largest LSPs by language industry intelligence firms CSA Research, Nimdzi, and Slator, is pleased to announce that Paul Carr has joined the firm as Chief Executive Officer. He will take over as CEO from Welocalize’s founder Smith Yewell, who has served as the company’s CEO since 1997.

A seasoned leader of growth businesses, Carr joins Welocalize from Third Bridge, a high growth global leader in institutional investment research. Prior to joining Third Bridge, Carr was President of Axiom Law, a disrupter in the corporate legal industry, where he scaled the business and oversaw a six-fold increase in size.

Carr was drawn to Welocalize’s depth of capability in AI-enabled language services, the company culture, and history of cultivating long-term client relationships. As an early adopter of machine translation and language technology, he believes Welocalize is uniquely positioned to help its clients capitalize on recent developments in generative AI.

A Transformative Industry

As with most other industries, new advancements in AI are radically transforming business models.

“Recent major developments in language-based, generative AI are clear indicators that the language services and technology industry is in the midst of rapid transformation,” comments Carr. “Welocalize is a tech-enabled company built for this new era of language services.”

Adds Todd Solow, partner at Norwest Equity Partners (NEP), a leading middle market investment firm that acquired Welocalize in June 2015, “Like NEP, Paul’s career has been focused on building teams and businesses. He is a proven leader who recognizes the potential of the next generation of language technology. We are confident his expertise will identify new areas of growth for Welocalize, and we look forward to working closely with him to create long-term, sustainable value together.”

Foundation for Growth

Yewell, who will continue to serve as a member of Welocalize’s Board of Directors, believes Carr’s experience driving growth and serving in leadership roles in disruptive industries will accelerate the company’s growth plans and ensure Welocalize’s position at the forefront of industry transformation.

Comments Yewell, “Our transformation over these last few years not only built a company that is in the top ranks of our industry, but a company that can be truly great. The path ahead is the vision I’ve been talking about from the very beginning. The only limit is our imagination.”

About Welocalize, Inc.

Welocalize, Inc., founded in 1997, offers innovative language services to help global brands reach audiences around the world in more than 250 languages. The company provides translation and localization services, linguistic talent management, language tools, automation, and technology, quality, and program management. Its range of managed language services include machine translation, digital marketing, validation and testing, interpreting, multilingual data training, and enterprise translation management technologies.

About Norwest Equity Partners

Since 1961, Norwest Equity Partners (NEP) has created opportunities, jobs, and value by investing in and building industry leading companies. Its respectful, collaborative approach sets it apart from other capital sources. NEP invests nationally from offices in Minneapolis and West Palm Beach, focused on middle-market companies across of variety of sectors including business and consumer services, consumer products, and industrials.

Media Contact: Donna Moore, [email protected].