SINGAPORE video-streaming startup Viki.com has clinched the prestigious Technology Pioneer 2014 award by the World Economic Forum for its subtitling technology.

The award, which counts Google and Paypal as previous winners, recognises startups for their potential in transforming the future of business and society.

Viki's technology operates in the same way as Wikipedia's, harnessing the input of an army of online fans to translate subtitles in more than 150 languages.

That means viewers can watch a Korean movie like My Wife Is A Gangster 3 with English or Thai subtitles - depending on whether the volunteer translators finish their work on the film.

Three-year-old Viki was named alongside 35 other companies around the world which are pioneers in areas such as affordable drinking water and a cure for genetic diseases.

This is the second time that a Singapore firm is on the Technology Pioneer list in the award's 13-year history.

Viki.com, which also has offices in San Francisco, Tokyo and Seoul, offers more than 2,000 movies and TV shows from South Korea and Japan to the United States. These videos, which are limited to older works, are streamed over the Internet for free.

The site has 22 million active monthly users.