EXCLUSIVE: Former DAZN Japan President Takashi Nakamura has a new role. He’s joined start-up dubbing and localization firm Camb.AI as President of APAC and will oversee a new Tokyo office.
Camb.AI, which owns an AI-powered multilingual translation tool, has launched in Asia due to the significant growth in the media and entertainment sector in the continent over the past decade. Nakamura experienced much of that, having been sports streamer DAZN’s Japan President and Managing Director for seven years between 2015 and 2022.
Camb.AI’s speech-to-speech translation tech, which is available in more than 150 languages, will allow Asia-Pacific content creators in Japan, Korea, Indonesia and other major territories to access easy-to-use AI dubbing tools in their content.
The real-time voice translation tech preserves the speaker’s original tone and intonation while translating the words into multiple languages and accents. It was initially used for live sports broadcasting – an area Nakamura knows well – but has since been employed far more broadly, on the likes of Nayla Al Khaja-directed psychological thriller’s Three.
Camb.AI has now worked with the likes of the Australian Open, MBC Group, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Eurovision Sport, IMAX, Ligue 1, MLS and NASCAR, and counts Comcast NBCUniversal Sports Tech among its investors, having raised a total of $15.1M to date.
Nakamura begins his tenure with a deal in place with ads and marketing giant Dentsu, as it expands its content overseas. That pact begins with a radio show featuring actor Shinnosuke Tachibana talking about Japanese culture, translated into English and Chinese.
“APAC represents a major opportunity and priority for us, with the breadth and depth of its content industry, from sports to entertainment,” said Akshat Prakash, co-founder and CTO of Camb.AI. “We’re thrilled to welcome Takashi Nakamura to lead our efforts in the region.
“His expansive industry expertise and pioneering work with DAZN Japan makes him uniquely capable of driving our mission forward, particularly in the area of multilingual real-time translation in sports. His connections and insights are expected to play a significant role in promoting the adoption of Camb.AI’s technology both domestically and internationally.”
“I am honored to join the Camb.AI team in its mission to globalize content through localization, including real-time translation of sports and live entertainment,” added Nakamura. “Asian markets have consistently been at the forefront of content creation and tech innovation, making it the perfect place for Camb.AI to expand and grow within the global market.”
