Posted on October 22, 2018 by staff

Tech company to double headcount after $25m win

Tech company to double headcount after $25m win

Crisp Thinking founder and CEO Adam Hildreth
Crisp Thinking founder and CEO Adam Hildreth

Yorkshire technology company Crisp Thinking has secured a $25 million investment from venture capital and private equity investor Baird Capital.

Headquartered in Leeds with offices in London, New York and San Francisco, the funding will allow Crisp to build on its current 100 per cent year-on-year growth, and to double its headcount from 100 to 200 globally.

Crisp specialises in protecting global brands and social platforms from the risks posed by social media. Its clients include brands in luxury, fashion, media and FMCG.

“Social media and the safety of both brands and society are in the headlines every day,” said founder and CEO Adam Hildreth. 

“Brands are experiencing increasing levels of crisis, brand attacks and targeted threats online, as well as dealing with reputation-damaging situations such as corporate scandals, all of which need fast resolution.

“Meanwhile, governments worldwide are putting pressure on the social platforms to combat hate speech, terrorist propaganda and the proliferation of child sex abuse material.
 
“We are the pioneers in social media brand safety and work with 1000s of the biggest brands in the world to tackle all of these issues.”

Crisp will be investing strongly in the continued development of its AI-based social media risk detection platform and expanding its sales and marketing operations globally, in particular in the US.

As part of the deal, Baird Capital will take a minority interest in Crisp and Baird Capital partner Andrew Ferguson will join the company’s board of directors.

Ferguson said Baird Capital’s global footprint and resources will help Crisp expand its own international footprint even futrther.

“Since its founding, Crisp has been focused on digital risk protection in a social media context and is building a highly respected reputation in this quickly evolving space,” he added. 

“Adam, Andrew, Peter and team have built a fabulous business and a great platform to scale further from.”

Crisp and its shareholders were advised by DWF (led by Lester Wilson) and AGC (led by Markus Salolainen) while Baird was advised by Eversheds Sutherland (led by Robin Skelton).

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