Signal AI Secures $165 Million in Funding for Global Expansion and AI-Powered Risk Intelligence

UK tech firm Signal AI raises $165mn from US investor for global expansion

Signal AI, the British tech company chaired by Archie Norman, has raised $165mn in a funding round led by US tech investor Battery Ventures to expand its media monitoring and risk management business globally. The company has struck content licensing deals with most of the world's top media groups, including the Financial Times, and social media companies, giving it access to articles, as well as podcasts and broadcast content. It scans this material to produce reports for its more than 650 clients, including Diageo, Volvo and Uber, who use them to understand what is being written and said about their company, as well as their rivals and the wider sector. The information also enables companies to detect early warning signs of potential problems -- including cyber attacks -- and inform strategic decisions. Signal counts many PR and management consultants as clients, but also offers a service that in effect replaces some of their more labour intensive operations in media monitoring and risk analysis. London-based Signal plans to use the new funds for acquisitions and product development, as well as expanding across both the US and Europe. Battery will hold a majority stake in Signal after the investment. David Benigson, Signal founder and chief executive, said that as well as having access to "pretty much all the global tier-one content around the world", Signal also scours industry specific publications and local content across 200 markets and nearly 100 languages. The company uses discriminative AI -- models that classify information -- and then applies generative AI to produce analysis for clients. Signal also examines dozens of social media channels and "a number of fringe and alt media sites that have become increasingly influential", Benigson said, including Telegram and Discord. He added that tracking these channels -- which are "not necessarily where our corporate clients are listening and spending their time" -- can help companies identify emerging cyber threats, as well as disinformation and misinformation campaigns. The UK government uses Signal's platform to benchmark reputational risk across agencies and programmes, while accounting firms have used the company's analysis in their audits of companies. In the year to March 2024, Signal made £23mn in revenue, up from £19mn in 2023, and a pre-tax loss of £14mn, narrower than £21mn the year before. Benigson said Signal was now profitable at the pre-tax level. Before this funding round, Signal had raised about $100mn in total from investors including Aberdeen, Hearst and Guardian Media Group Ventures, which is now known as Mercuri. The company was advised by Evercore on its latest fundraise.

UK risk intelligence platform Signal AI raises $165m to expand globally

The investment will give Battery Ventures a majority stake in the company. UK-based risk intelligence platform Signal AI has raised $165m in a funding round led by US tech investor Battery Ventures. The investment, which gives Battery a majority stake in the company, will allow Signal AI to grow its data collection through mergers and acquisitions, and develop sector expertise and AI research capabilities. The company also plans to accelerate its risk intelligence product development, and expand its footprint across the US, and the Europe, Middle East and African regions. In 2021, Signal raised $50m. Founded in 2013 by CEO David Benigson, and chaired by Archie Norman (who also chairs Marks and Spencer's board), Signal AI uses artificial intelligence to identify corporate risks. ranging from regulatory to cyber to supply chain, in unstructured and proprietary data. It does so by sourcing and analysing billions of data points across news, regulation, social media and litigation, among others. With this information, Signal AI's clientele, which includes brands such as Diageo, NetApp, Volvo, Bloomberg and Uber, can benchmark their risk and reputation against competitors and mitigate any potential impact to stakeholder trust and enterprise value. "Our AI platform started in a garage and evolved to power the world's most complex enterprises," said Benigson. "Partnering with Battery Ventures - a firm with a 40-year track record of innovation - will accelerate our global growth. "With technological, operational and financial challenges emerging faster, every executive I meet is asking the same question: 'What's next, and how can I get ahead of it?' Together with Battery, we aim to equip leaders with the deepest, most intuitive way to answer that question." Collier Searle, a principal at Battery, is joining Signal AI's board. She said, "Signal AI has carved out a differentiated and, we feel, highly defensible market position at the intersection of AI, risk and enterprise software." Battery private equity partner Dave Tabors, who is also joining Signal's board, added, "Signal AI's customer traction is extremely impressive and indicates, to us, that the company has hit upon a real pain point in terms of risk management for enterprises today - and that the company is delivering a much-needed, AI-powered solution." Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.