LONDON, 3^RD OCTOBER 2023 –– Unitary, the AI-powered visual moderation company, has raised $15 million in Series A funding, led by Creandum with participation from Paladin Capital Group and Plural. The investment comes as Unitary launches across multiple languages, doubles the size of its team, and triples the number of daily videos it classifies, from 2 to 6 million a day.

Led by co-founders Sasha Haco and James Thewlis, Unitary is developing AI technology that understands video the same way that humans can. By simultaneously analysing multiple signals, its machine learning technology is capable of understanding the content of videos and images, as well as the context in which they appear. This capability will be crucial as platforms adapt to new regulations like the UK’s Online Safety Bill, and the EU’s Digital Services Act, which will require more proactive moderation and action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material.

“Our vision is for ethical, empathetic AI to enhance how visual content is experienced online. We’ve always focused on how we might be able to use AI to ensure a safer online experience, and keep up with the pace of internet content. This funding enables us to stay at the forefront of video understanding research and fulfil our mission of making the internet better,” said Sasha Haco, Co-Founder and CEO of Unitary.

Driven by complex video content that makes up 80% of internet traffic, the amount of information online is set to increase by a factor of ten between 2020 and 2025. Because the scale of this challenge is beyond human reviewers alone, Unitary has developed a machine learning solution to help platforms navigate nuance by analysing combinations of visual, aural, and textual content. To accelerate these efforts, Unitary will use this investment to bolster its research and development programmes, scale its team, and forge deep partnerships with the world’s leading social platforms and brand safety organisations.

Gemma Bloemen, Principal at Creandum and Unitary board member, said: “We first met Sasha and James two years ago and have been incredibly impressed by the thoughtful way they have built their product and team since, and the way they have scaled and grown the business. Unitary has emerged as clear early leaders in the important AI field of content safety, and we’re so excited to back this exceptional team as they continue to accelerate and innovate in content classification technology.”

Ian Hogarth, Partner at Plural and Unitary board member, said: “From the start, Unitary had some of the most powerful AI for classifying harmful content. Already this year, the company has accelerated to 7 figures of ARR, almost unheard of at this early stage in the journey. It’s no wonder the team has been able to attract Series A investors so rapidly. We’re confident that this is the team that is set to redefine how we ensure visual content safety in the digital age.”

Christopher Steed, Chief Investment Officer, Paladin Capital Group, added: “In an online world, there’s an immense need for a technology-driven approach to identify harmful content. Unitary is bringing the power of AI to meet this complex technology and policy challenge with a solution that is intuitive, effective and ready to scale. Unitary is making the internet a safer place, and we look forward to helping them accelerate their efforts at a global scale.”

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Unitary

Unitary classifies the internet’s information for users, platforms and brands. We use machine learning to enable safe, transparent, and positive online experiences by interpreting content in context. We work with some of the world’s leading brands to help them extract meaning from media. More details are available at www.unitary.ai.

About Creandum

Founded in 2003, Creandum is a leading pan-European early-stage venture capital  firm. The fund’s portfolio includes some of Europe’s most successful tech companies across a wide range of industries, including Spotify, Klarna, Depop, Kry, Trade  Republic, Pleo, and Small Giant Games. Today, every sixth company is a unicorn. Creandum’s advisory teams are based in Stockholm, Berlin, London and San  Francisco. To learn more visit creandum.com.

About Plural

Plural allows experienced operators to become involved, lead investors alongside the next generation of founders. With a passion for the missions that matter, plus our own prior scar tissue as operators, Plural aims to bend the trajectories of its companies. Plural’s ambition is to unlock European GDP growth through technology. We will also partner with bold founders anywhere who are tackling the global opportunity gap or systemic risks.

About Paladin Capital Group

Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC, New York, London, Luxembourg, and Silicon Valley. As a multi-stage investor, Paladin’s core strength is identifying, supporting and investing in innovative companies that develop promising, early-stage technologies to address the critical cyber and advanced technological needs of both commercial and government customers.

Combining proven investment experience with deep expertise in global security, cyber technology and cutting-edge research, Paladin has invested in more than 60 companies since 2008 and has been a trusted partner to investors, entrepreneurs and governments for over two decades. For more on Paladin Capital Group, follow us on Twitter at @Paladincap and on LinkedIn or visit us at www.paladincapgroup.com.