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Brandwatch raises $33 million to fuel social intelligence growth
MUMBAI: Social intelligence company Brandwatch has completed a $33 million Series C financing led by new investor Partech Ventures, with participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners Europe and Nauta Capital.
Brandwatch’s continued growth demonstrates the strong appetite organizations have for a best of breed social analytics platform as social networks have evolved into a critical source of consumer and business insight. The funding will be used to accelerate development of the company’s core technologies and products to keep setting the standard in an increasingly complex, global social landscape.
Building on its strong US presence, which now accounts for more than half of the company’s revenues, Brandwatch will open more offices following the June 2015 launch in Singapore. The company also plans to invest heavily in strategic partnerships with other best-of-breed products to offer customers integrated social intelligence solutions.
Recently, Brandwatch has added new brands to its 1,200-strong roster of customers – including Samsung, Cisco Systems, and Sony Music – and it is now one of the largest VC-backed SaaS companies in Europe. In 2015 the company launched the most sophisticated automated intelligence alerts on the market, Brandwatch Signals, which notifies users in real time of significant or unexpected changes in their social data.
The company has built a reputation for excellence with its two products – Brandwatch Analytics (which includes Signals) for deep social intelligence functionality and Brandwatch Vizia, a beautiful display platform used by enterprises to inform real-time business decision-making in every department. Brandwatch plans to continue its ambitious innovation with Vizia, including the rollout of an app ecosystem.
Brandwatch recently appointed two new senior executives, naming David Jones as chief technology officer and Amy Collins as head of product. These tech veterans bring with them many years of experience in analytics, information technology, and business intelligence to the company’s leadership team.
“We decided to invest in Brandwatch because of its incredibly strong vision, technology and team. Social data is driving the future of every business function from marketing and sales to customer service. We are very proud to partner with the worldwide leader to tackle this massive opportunity,” said Partech Ventures general partner and Brandwatch new board member Omri Benayoun.
“This is another big milestone for us. It’s a substantial investment from a great firm, Omri and the Partech team are world-class. We are going to continue building an extraordinary company – one that listens to and looks after its customers, cares for its staff and works hard to build innovative, elegant, useful products. I love working here and I love the energy that every Brandwatcher brings into our offices every day. Game on,” added Brandwatch CEO Giles Palmer.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
