Funds for Online Threat Handling Firm PeakMetrics

US firm PeakMetrics has raised $3m in funding to expand its market and further develop its 'narrative intelligence' technology, which helps governments, companies and other organisations deal with online risks from misinformation and media manipulation.

Using proprietary machine learning technology, the firm analyzes more than 1.5 million media sources and 10 different social media platforms to identify media manipulation and adversarial attacks in real time, aiming to alert clients and facilitate remedial action before damage is done.

PeakMetrics says there is rapidly growing demand for proactive narrative intelligence tools, with 2023 seeing a 400% increase in recurring revenue, while election year 2024 opens up vast new potential for misinformation and misleading narratives - but the firm sees commercial clients as a key area for investment and expansion.

The round was led by investor and strategic growth adviser York IE, whose Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner Joe Raczka joins the PeakMetrics board of directors. Existing investor Argon Ventures joined the round as did Parameter ventures and CEAS Investments. In total PeakMetrics has now raised $5.7m to date.

Co-founder and CEO Nick Loui (pictured) comments: 'PeakMetrics is changing the way enterprises and governments navigate this age of information chaos. Our state-of-the-art platform gives organizations the means to discern source credibility, understand how audiences spread narratives, and quantify risk and response scenarios - without spending millions on crisis communication and manual sentiment analysis'. Raczka says protecting brand, reputation and people 'can no longer be a reactive exercise', and adds: 'PeakMetrics is using novel ML tactics to help companies and government organizations anticipate threats in real time, so they're not caught flat-footed. It's an especially powerful technology in the current dynamic information landscape'.

Loui co-founded PeakMetrics in 2020 with his former high school classmate Bobby Lincoln, now COO. The company is online at www.peakmetrics.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.