Signal Media, the UK-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped information intelligence platform, received £5.8m ($7.4m) in series A funding on Tuesday from investors including media group Hearst and analytics provider RELX.
The corporates, which participated in the round through their respective investment subsidiaries, Hearst Ventures and Reed Elsevier Ventures, were joined by venture capital firms MMC Ventures, Frontline Ventures and LocalGlobe.
Signal’s software analyses more than 2 million news articles across 90 countries each day, allowing a user base primarily operating in the financial services, legal and professional services industries to monitor international events.
The round, which follows $3.2m in seed funding supplied by Reed Elsevier Ventures, Frontline and various angel investors in 2015, will enable Signal to strengthen its product as it looks to enter new verticals and penetrate the US market next year.
Hearst Ventures partner Megumi Ikeda said: “The Signal team recognises that businesses need to change the way they access and act on information. In a 24-second news cycle, slow and incomplete news monitoring have forced businesses onto the defensive.
“In a market that has long struggled to innovate, Signal has effectively differentiated itself from its competitors, offering a product that enables businesses be proactive in their communications and decision-making.”