Artificial Intelligence Company Applied XL Raises $3.5 million led by Hearst Ventures to Expand Event Detection and Real-Time Information Platform
New York, N.Y. (March, 2022) — Applied XL, a real-time information company tracking disruptions to the health of people, places, and the planet, today announced it had raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Hearst Ventures with the participation of the Boston Globe Media Partners and STAT, (which are owned by the Henry family), Alumni Ventures, DataPower Ventures as well as renewed support of all its pre-seed investors including Tuesday Capital, Correlation Ventures, Scott Cohen, Robin Lingg, Michael Reitermann, Sandiip Bhammer, Christina Topsøe and Geoffrey Hoguet.
The latest round brings Applied XL’s total funds raised to date to $5 million in the last 12 months. The company will use the new funding to scale its first vertical serving pharma and biotech professionals, expanding its offerings for the life science analytics market, whose value is projected to reach $42 billion by 2025.
“Professionals in this sector are overwhelmed with an ever-growing amount of unstructured data, missing out on crucial information, and slowing down their decision-making. We are developing event detection algorithms that replicate the rigorous research process of biotech journalists in order to surface important signals and deprioritize noise,” said Applied XL’s CEO and co-founder, Francesco Marconi. “We are deeply grateful to Hearst Ventures and all of our investors who support our vision of building smart systems for eliminating information overload.”
Applied XL uses machine learning to monitor dozens of industry databases and make sense of disparate data streams, surfacing signals before they become news. Rather than providing static snapshots and summaries of existing information, the system dynamically categorizes events, ranks them, and assigns proprietary labels that provide immediate insight into when and why important changes occur. The company has also developed a human-in-the-loop system in which an expert network contributes with data input, which is then used to retrain the system’s machine learning algorithms to achieve increased levels of accuracy.
“Hearst recognizes the transformative potential of B2B information solutions tailored for specific industries. Hearst has already experienced marked success with our investments in the healthcare, transportation, and financial services sectors,” said Ken Bronfin, senior managing director at Hearst Ventures. “Our investment in Applied XL reflects our broader strategic focus on leveraging the power of big data to power information products serving professionals across sectors.”
In January 2022, Applied XL partnered with STAT, the leading media company reporting on health, science, and medicine, to launch STAT Trials Pulse. Users include professionals spanning pharmaceutical, health care, biotech and financial services companies who use the data to inform regulatory strategy, clinical development and investment decisions. For example, the platform helps identify patterns in patient enrollment changes and timeline shifts to anticipate interruptions to clinical trials.
“Since the launch of STAT in 2015, Boston Globe Media Partners has already seen the impact of a specialized product targeting small but influential audiences and charging them for high-end news, information, and insights.” said Linda Pizzuti Henry, CEO Boston Globe Media Partners. “And now, we’re excited to build on this work by investing and partnering with Applied XL to continue developing its technology and provide industry leaders with the data-driven insights to inform critical business decisions that will allow them to grow and remain competitive.”
Applied XL was launched in 2020 through the Newlab Venture Studio by computational journalists who formerly led artificial intelligence efforts at the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press.
About Applied XL
Applied XL is a real-time information company tracking disruptions to the health of people, places, and the planet, so decision makers can act faster and plan ahead. Applied XL develops event detection systems powered by machine learning and editorial algorithms to find early signals before they become news. Learn more at appliedxl.com.
About Hearst Ventures
Hearst Ventures is the global venture capital division of Hearst. Founded in 1995, the group has grown to become one of the most active and successful corporate venture funds with more than $1 billion invested to date.
Hearst is a leading global, diversified information, services and media company with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include global financial services leader Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; Hearst Transportation, which includes CAMP Systems International, a major provider of software-as-a-service solutions for managing maintenance of jets and helicopters; ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; 33 television stations; 24 daily and 52 weekly newspapers; digital services businesses; and nearly 250 magazines around the world. Follow us on Twitter @Hearst. To learn more about Hearst, visit hearst.com.
About Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC
Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC (“BGMP”) provides news and information, entertainment, opinion and analysis through its multimedia properties. BGMP includes The Boston Globe, Globe.com, Boston.com, STAT, and Globe Direct.
About STAT:
Founded in 2015, STAT is a national digital media brand that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences industries to over six million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.
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