Anyone looking to expand their website internationally knows how much time and effort it takes. Translating content, uploading everything, optimising for search engines, going live – and the whole cycle starts over with each new product or update. It was exactly this frustration that drove Bas van Schijndel and his partners to develop Clonable: a tool that copies, translates and automatically syncs websites. “The moment you update your original site, the clone updates itself. You’ll never have to do the same work twice, ever again.”

Clonable was created out of real-world experiences. Bas and co-founder Niels Arts were running a digital marketing agency, helping clients conquer foreign markets. “Often it was Dutch web shops wanting to expand into Germany. This process could easily take six months. Every page had to be translated manually, everything had to be rebuilt from scratch. And when you finally went live, new products would soon be added, kicking off the whole process again.”

There had to be a faster way, they thought. No more manual translation, but a smart, automated solution. With their colleague Bas van den Boom, they started building. “We asked him: can you clone a website? Two weeks later he came back with a completely different approach. And it turned out to be brilliant.”

Taking the first steps

Their efforts resulted in Clonable. A tool that literally clones, translates and updates an original website. “When we showcased a few demos at the 2021 Webwinkel Vakdagen, it immediately took off. We had expected people to use it mainly to test new markets quickly. But visitors actually saw it as a full-fledged alternative to the traditional process within their web shop systems. There was even a queue for our demos.”

Their first customers were online shops, but today Clonable also works for bigger organisations like PSV football club, and across industries like tourism and services. “Clonable is useful anywhere you want online visibility in multiple languages. Think of exporters, hotel chains, or museums aiming to attract foreign visitors. Or Briskr, for example – we cloned their site too!”

Clonable does more than just translate. “In Belgium they don’t say ‘scheenbeschermers’, they say ‘scheenlappen’. And in Germany, the style of communication is much more formal than in the Netherlands. A literal translation just isn’t enough. You have to localise, taking cultural differences and search behaviour into account. We’ve built all of that in.”

Under the bonnet

So, how exactly does Clonable work? “A website is basically made of code, and that code contains text. Our smart algorithm extracts the right text, sends it through our translation and synchronisation process, and seamlessly merges it back into the code. Thanks to caching, load times are just as fast as the original.”

Users can set their own rules for exceptions, tweak translations, and optimise keywords for SEO. “For web shops, we even offer integration with Google Shopping, ensuring translated product titles appear correctly there too. Everything is geared towards international visibility and speed.”

Smarter, more personalised translations

Clonable keeps evolving. In 2025, the company plans to launch personalised translation profiles. “The medical sector uses different terms to construction, for example. And some words mean completely different things depending on the context. By setting a profile in advance, you’ll get much better translations, right from the start.”

The last few percent of the text can be finetuned manually, by a copywriter or editor if needed. “But the work has been 98% done – saving months of work.”

A powerful pitch

During their growth journey, Clonable also received support from Briskr, through the Business Angels Network Nijmegen (BANN). “We attended pitch training sessions, presented our story to investors, and faced tough questions about our market strategy and technology. It helped us tremendously. Not only did we attract new investors, but we also focused our story.”

International ambitions

Clonable’s ambitions go far beyond the Netherlands. “Right now, we have customers across Europe, and even one in Canada and the US. But our focus is still Europe. Every country has its own customs and tone of voice. We want Clonable to capture these cultural differences, so businesses can go international without compromising on quality.”

Ultimately, Clonable aims to be the go-to tool for international growth. “We’re not a consultancy. We make sure everything you need to grow internationally is in place – from translation profiles to CMS integrations, from cultural localisation to online visibility. Everything you need to take your website across borders.”