SlatorPod

#117 Jeenie CEO Kirsten Brecht Baker on Raising a Series A for Healthcare Interpreting

May 13, 2022 Slator
SlatorPod
#117 Jeenie CEO Kirsten Brecht Baker on Raising a Series A for Healthcare Interpreting
Show Notes Chapter Markers

In this week’s SlatorPod, we are joined by Kirsten Brecht Baker, Co-founder and CEO of Jeenie, an on-demand healthcare interpreting platform that recently raised USD 9.3m in Series A funding.

Kirsten begins with her journey as a daughter of linguists and how she transitioned from working in international education to co-founding Jeenie. She tells us about the pivot to servicing healthcare in the US and how they grew in one of the most competitive spaces in the industry.

The CEO shares her experience partnering with Transformation Capital, a growth equity fund focused on innovative healthcare IT and services companies, in order to scale through hiring and innovate through technology. She talks about the advantages of working remotely versus a hybrid model, such as direct connections from clients to interpreters in as little as 15 seconds.

The pod rounds off with Jeenie’s technology plans for the future with intentional partnerships and integrations with electronic medical records and electronic health records. Kirsten gives her outlook, where she sees a transition from OPI to VRI, and increased communication due to rising migrant trends around the world.

First up, Florian and Anna discuss the language industry news of the week, with two airports in Canada being ordered to pay CAD 20,000 to serial complainant Michel Thibodeau.

In M&A news, Toppan Digital Language, the LSP subsidiary of Singapore-based Toppan Leefung, expanded its London presence with the acquisition of TranslateMedia. Meanwhile, Down Under, the Australian Judicial Council on Cultural Diversity launched the second edition of its national standards for legal interpreting.

Florian talks about Amazon Transcribe’s no-code workflow, which enables video subtitle creation directly within the service. 

Agenda and Intro
Slator's New Website
Canadian Airport Signage
Toppan Buys TranslateMedia
Australian Court Interpreting 
Amazon No-code Transcription Solution
Kirsten Brecht Baker Joins the Pod
Elevator Pitch for Jeenie
Device Options for Interpreting
Kirsten's Background
Jeenie's Origin Story
Pivot into Medical Interpreting
Hiring for Hard to Source Languages
Partnering With Transformation Capital
Deploying the Funds
Working With Video Platforms
Remote Versus Hybrid Working
Technical Challenges with MoVI
Tech Roadmap
Market Outlook for Interpreting