TV Comment Analyst Bluefin Labs Raises $12m

Bluefin Labs, which analyses social media comments about US TV programs, has raised $12m in a Series B round of funding. The money will fund expansion of the firm's existing technology and an increase in its sales and client services teams.

The company was founded in 2008 by Deb Roy and Michael Fleischman, as an off-shoot of their research at the MIT Media Lab.

Their flagship Bluefin Signals technology platform analyzes comments posted on social media sites about US national television programs and commercials, and clients tap into this data to inform the buying and selling of TV media. To date, Bluefin Signals has provided data and analysis of social media responses to more than 346,000 individual TV telecasts airing across all TV day-parts and programming genres.

Co-founder and CEO Deb Roy comments: 'We are witnessing a huge shift in consumer behavior, as people now naturally turn to social media to voice their opinions about what they are watching on television. We are continuing to build out Bluefin's services to provide enhanced data which enables our clients to glean more of an understanding of their audiences and target consumers.'

This latest round of financing has been led by Time Warner Investments with participation from new investor SoftBank Capital and return investors Redpoint Ventures and Lerer Ventures. As a result of the deal, Rachel Lam, SVP and Group MD of Time Warner Investments will join the Bluefin Board of Directors.

Web site: www.bluefinlabs.com .