Media insights startup Truescope raises $6.2 million for US ambitions

Media intelligence startup Truescope has raised $6.2 million ahead of a push into the US market.

The round was led by Sydney VCs Investible and Jelix Ventures, with additional support from private investors.

The funds will be used to launch and support Truescope’s United States market entry and accelerate engineering and technology innovations in the cloud-based SaaS platform’s pipeline.

Industry veterans John Croll and Michael Bade launched their Sydney-based startup in mid-2020. Truescope uses machine learning to assist corporate communications teams stay on top of breaking news across all media types and then identify issues, fake news, and trends in real time.

Originally kicking off in Singapore, with plans to launch in Australia a few months later, the venture instead pivoted to New Zealand, the business now has more than 250 corporate and government clients.

The US will be its third market and Croll said they’re now looking to put boots on the ground in North America.

“The Truescope platform was built after we recognised an opportunity to help brands take better advantage of communications technology,” he said

“We are hiring a fantastic team in the US with a wealth of industry experience, and this factor, coupled with the smartest media intelligence platform in the market, means we’re excited to make a difference to the communications industry.

“Now to have this support from the calibre of investors that we do, we know that our strategy stacks up and we’re on track to being one of the leading media intelligence SaaS platforms globally.”

Jelix Ventures CEO Andrea Gardiner said Truescope is unlike any business in the media intelligence space.

“We are delighted to be partnering with John and Michael and we look forward to following their success in their mission to better inform communications around the world,” she said.

The venture now operates in Singapore, New Zealand, and the US, with its development team based in Australia.