The creator of the most widely used voice and camera translator in Japan is attempting to set itself apart by aiming for a Nasdaq IPO with a billion-dollar valuation in two years.

Portable devices that can translate into 85 languages are available from Pockettalk Corp. The startup’s newest model, the $249 Pocketalk S, has been sold 1.1 million times since its debut in 2017. Through a collaboration with the mobile division of SoftBank Group Corp., the company intends to sell an additional million in 11 nations over three years.

Japanese companies often stick to their home markets, which are the third-largest economies in the world, but Pocketalk stands out among them for trying to go internationally and list in the United States.

The startup uses resources, including translation services from Google, OpenAI, and DeepL GmbH, according to Noriyuki Matsuda, CEO of Pocketalk and parent company Sourcenext, and uses proprietary source code to give the most accurate and natural translation possible.

For the time being, Pocketalk hopes to expand by offering translation services to business clients of the telecom company SoftBank Corp. in North America and Asia.

Daichi Nozaki, senior vice president of SoftBank, stated that “with Japanese companies expanding globally, there is a real need to establish seamless business connections with overseas business partners.”