Growth Funds for Engagement Analyst SPARK Neuro

New York-based SPARK Neuro, which uses advanced neuroscience tools to measure audience engagement, has raised $13.5m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to meet international and domestic demand and expand across industries.

Founded last year by Spencer Gerrol (pictured), SPARK Neuro's approach measures four factors to determine if content resonates with consumers - brain activity, electrodermal activity, facial expression and eye tracking. Its proprietary algorithms analyze more than 6,000 data points per second, to determine how a person responds emotionally to the content presented. Measuring brain and nervous system activity to see exactly when people are engaged and when they are not, the firm analyzes ads, movies, trailers and other creative content on behalf of advertisers, networks and movie studios,.

New financing has been led by Thiel Capital with participation from actor and producer Will Smith and former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner's Tornante Company. Gerrol comments: 'Since the days of Mad Men the need to evaluate content has been critical, but traditional methods like focus groups, surveys and polls continuously fail because they are riddled with biases and incomplete data. At SPARK Neuro we bring brands, studios and other content creators an unmatched ability to know whether or not their content will succeed, and we're proud to have support from industry legends Michael Eisner and Will Smith as we grow'.

Web site: www.sparkneuro.com .