The best of Signal AI’s 2019

2019 has sped by. And if you ask us, the years are definitely getting shorter. That, or we’ve been racing through 2019 with such momentum that it’s been a bit of a blur.

Whichever it is, this year certainly has been a big’un for the team at Signal AI. From international expansion and funding announcements, to incredible events and industry leading content.

Here we reflect on the incredible 2019 Signal AI has had.

Exciting announcements

First things first, we’d be remiss not to mention some of Signal AI’s big announcements this year.

In April, we announced the expansion of our global footprint into North America and APAC. This announcement followed the finalising of Signal AI’s Series B funding in 2018, allowing us to put additional investment into the North American market to expand market coverage. In addition, we opened our first office in the APAC region. Based in Hong Kong, this targeted expansion has enabled us to make real inroads into the region.

But that wasn’t the only big news we had this year. Not by a long shot.

The announcement of our partnership with Deloitte followed closely and shook up the Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. Deloitte partnered with us to capitalise upon our AI-powered media monitoring platform, resulting in a collaboration to digitise tax regulation monitoring. An artificial intelligence service now used by over 300 Deloitte clients.

And finally, the biggest announcement of the year was that of our latest funding announcement. In October we could finally reveal to the world that we had successfully raised our Series C funding. With support from Redline Capital and existing investors including MMC Ventures, GMG Ventures and Hearst Ventures, Signal AI raised $25 million.

$25 million to implement our vision: to transform decision making with Augmented Intelligence.

Research

In 2019 we doubled down on the endless possibilities the Signal AI platform offers and the kind of research capable with it.

This kicked off in early 2019 with a detailed report on the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. Analysing how the media flagrantly uses language unevenly when reporting on terrorist acts by white supremacists compared with Islamist extremists.

However, it also revealed that the Christchurch attack was a reporting anomaly. This was due to how Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, publicly reacted and responded to the tragedy. Condemning the white attacker as a terrorist and the tragedy as an act of terrorism in speeches and comments to the media.

Resulting in an exceptional shift in the reporting of the shooting – undertaken by a white person – in how willing the media was to label the attacker as such.

2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries Index

Our next foray into current affairs and political reporting was the launch of the Signal AI 2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries Index. The Index began in June and has been updated for the months of July, August, and September to November.

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Index monitors and provides analysis of media coverage for the major democratic presidential candidates. Tracking every time the candidates are referred to in the media and within their wider political context.

Throughout the process we have targeted our media monitoring and analysis by separating the coverage of the candidates by: order of caucuses and primaries (Iowa), political issue, and televised debates respectively.

Whilst looking into the discrepancy between the coverage of all Democratic Presidential candidates (4.15 million) and President Trump (10.3 million), from January to July 2019, with the Wall Street Journal.

Research projects

It doesn’t stop there however. We’ve been incredibly busy this year capitalising upon the functionalities within our platform and the possibilities they offer us. Both to bring facts and data to the forefront and into the everyday, and to provide apolitical commentary on current affairs.

For example, our deep-dive analysis into media coverage of all major political parties in the run up to, and after, the 2019 EU Election.

“During his EU elections campaign Nigel Farage consistently criticised the BBC claiming that the broadcaster didn’t give his party, The Brexit Party, enough airtime.”

Understandably, this was a claim we wanted to interrogate; revealing the facts pertaining to the percentage of coverage of both Farage and the Brexit party in their wider political context. Both of which, we found, received their fair share of media coverage – dismissing claims of either being snubbed by media outlets.

In addition to data-led commentary on current affairs, we have also partnered with various charities and groups throughout 2019. Becoming a corporate partner in the Distasters Emergency Committee (DEC)‘s Rapid Response Network (RRN) and undertaking numerous research projects.

One campaign Signal AI is incredibly proud to have participated in is the #VoteLeaves campaign. Working with Manifest and Offset Earth, we conducted research into the discrepancy in coverage of Climate Change and Brexit.

Research that was formalised into the basis of the group’s campaign.

Industry insight

Webinars

This year has also been one of fruitful collaboration and relationship building with some of the PR & Comms industry’s best minds. Resulting in numerous expert webinars for you to get your teeth into, covering far ranging topics. From Crisis communications, prevention and management to PR measurement and the power of AI in PR and storytelling.

We’ve tapped into the minds and expertise of the like of Benjamin Thiele-Long, director at Cognito, to find out how to master the art of data-driven PR. And shown off our in-depth knowledge of how to utilise PR & Comms to ensure cyber resilience in the event of a data breach or cyber attack.

Our next webinar is in conversation with Arielle Lapiano, Director of Communications and Public Relations for global law firm Paul Hastings. Taking place on Wednesday 15th January 2020, Arielle will reveal how to help leaders take the lead in PR & Comms in 2020.

Reports, Whitepapers and commentary

Likewise, at Signal AI we’ve been busily working away throughout the year to provide genuinely helpful resources for PR & Comms professionals.

Kicking off with the Signal AI blog that saw deep-dives into what media monitoring is, the importance of real-time media monitoring, why PR is important, how to measure media coverage, and more. And a partnership with PRCA and Byfields Consultancy to provide insight and tips on PR measurement for their Legal PR Guide.

But it doesn’t stop there. Our Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder, Dr. Miguel Martinez, has contributed commentary on the topic of the impact of immigration restrictions on the UK tech industry and how to maximise the impact of AI in your organisation.

There have also been a plethora of educational and informative reports and whitepapers published throughout the year. From 8 tips for effectively managing a PR crisis and analysis of the rise of the challenger brands, to a deep-dive into how AI is revolutionising PR and Signal AI’s comprehensive and industry leading PR & Media Intelligence glossary.

Events

One of the best things about 2019 has been our busy events calendar.

Meeting so many PR & Comms professionals and leaders in the industry in person has been invigorating and exciting. Especially at top industry events such as PR360, PRWeek’s Crisis Comms event, the PRCA National Conference 2019, IABC 2019, PRSA San Diego, and more!

And on top of it being a great year for us for industry events, Signal AI still managed to make a splash elsewhere.

Our CEO and co-founder, David Benigson, spoke about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and augmentation at the inaugural TEDxBonnSquare event. (A local TEDx event licensed by TED.) This event brought us back to our AI roots and helped us redefine AI as Augmented Intelligence and bring it into the 21st century.

Highlights

Finally, our highlights of the year. Well, everything here has been a highlight along with the unmentioned hard work going on behind the scenes.

However, as we move into 2020 and our next phase of phenomenal growth there are a few highlights we can mention. Going into this new year as one of the Financial Times’ 1,000 fastest-growing European companies and one of Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK)’s top 70 UK scaleup companies is validating and bolstering.

And there it is. The best of Signal AI’s 2019 in a nutshell. We’re looking forward to 2020 and the new opportunities and challenges it will bring, so make sure you join us for the ride!

Join us on our journey at Signal AI by getting a demo.