Slator’s very own Senior Research Analyst Anna Wyndham joins the Pod to give a sneak peek into the latest Slator Pro Guide: Language Operations. The 40-page guide is packed with data from public and proprietary sources, including 11 interviews with language service providers (LSPs) at different stages of growth across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Anna unpacks the five key areas of the report that cover how LSPs structure operations, linguist supply chain models, an analysis of the global footprint of LSPs, program management, and payment risks. She concludes with a one-page operational milestone roadmap that lays out the key milestones LSPs hit as they grow from Boutique to Super Agency.

First up, Esther and Florian catch up on three weeks’ worth of the language industry news, beginning with TransPerfect’s largest M&A deal to date as they bought Semantix, Sweden’s largest LSP.

Esther shares news of clinical research specialist WCG’s acquisition of e-clinical software and translation provider VeraSci for USD 330m back in July. thebigword Group announced that investment firm Susquehanna Private Capital had acquired a majority stake in the UK-based LSP.

Florian talks about CataCap selling its majority stake in LanguageWire to Bridgepoint Development Capital. Meanwhile, interpreting SaaS startup Boostlingo secured investment from growth equity firm Mainsail Partners after experiencing over 130% growth in 2020.