Andrea Vattani, is the Co-Founder & Chief Scientist at Spiketrap, a contextualization company powering audience intelligence and media performance for creators, platforms, and brands. What initially attracted you to computer science and AI? It was a combination of fortuitous circumstances, I showed up at the University of Rome to take the Statistics major admission test, and it turned out I was a day late! I was advised to apply for Computer Science instead and move back to the Statistics department a year later. I went to the Computer Science admission test (which was that day!) and passed it… never moved back to Statistics! My interest in AI really started with realizing how computers can help you automate things, and AI is the ultimate automation machinery.

I recently caught up with Andrea Vattani, Co-Founder & Chief Scientist, Spiketrap, to explore the path forward for brands looking to unlock true understanding of their audiences and their communications in the context of the world. Only two months into 2021 and nearing our second year of the pandemic, consumer behavior has changed rapidly and will continue to evolve as we adapt to new ways of life. So, how can brands keep a pulse on their shifting audiences this year and beyond? Andrea Vattani: As people have physically distanced, they've become more digitally connected. Conversations that once took place in-person or on a limited number of channels now sprawl online with increasing velocity.

Spiketrap, a California based AI-powered consumer intelligence platform, has now secured $3 million in a seed funding round. Spiketrap is founded by the Kieran Fitzpatrick. It provides an AI-powered platform that enables companies and brands to understand conversations at scale in a real-time scenario. The company helps customers in deriving insights faster and providing rich data for data-driven decision making. The company comprises a team of more than 15 people from industry leaders which includes Logitech, Apple, Amazon, and AdColony.

Spiketrap, an AI-powered consumer intelligence platform, announces that it has closed a $3M seed round led by Susa Ventures with participation from 645 Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Oceans Ventures, WndrCo, SV Angel, Anorak Ventures, Harry Stebbings of 20VC, as well as strategic angels. Ninety percent of all data on the internet is unstructured, and brands that neglect this data are making major decisions on a fraction of total information. Spiketrap's AI-powered platform enables companies and brands to understand conversations at scale in real-time, accelerating customers' speed-to-insight and providing rich data for data-driven decision-making. Its proprietary technology is capable of ingesting massive amounts of data in real-time and to contextually understand what is being discussed while eliminating spam and noise. "As an investor, I've never seen a product become indispensable for the top companies in an industry so quickly," says Leo Polovets, Co-Founder and General Partner, Susa Ventures.