The company is a newly formed subsidiary of CivicScience that will offer digital ad-targeting using CivicScience’s first-party consumer data. It aims to help marketers target ads in a landscape where third-party cookies are being blocked and regulation around personal data control is growing. Leadership is headed by media executive Doug Lauretano, formerly of Media.net. CivicScience is a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based consumer intelligence startup and the new unit will leverage its existing data assets. The company currently has at least two Seattle-based employees, including former Cheezburger executive Cyrus Krohn. Financially, the new venture has secured external investment to launch operations. CivicScience operates a polling platform that publishers can license for free and embed via a widget or API to collect poll responses and anonymous user data. The company aggregates answers and behavioral signals from users across partner sites, social networks, and mobile platforms, then provides deep analysis of sentiment and emerging trends. CivicScience sells that data and research to brands, advertisers, political groups, financial institutions, and research firms, and offers publishers analytics and audience-measurement tools to boost CPMs. It has been expanding its publishing partner base — including Scripps Digital, McClatchy, Hearst, and the NY Daily News — which the company says has dramatically increased the number of users taking its polls and the value of its data. Cox Enterprises has begun deploying CivicScience polls across its digital properties and will be a client of its research services. The company recently raised additional funding to support that growth. CivicScience is an intelligent polling utility that provides audience measurement and analytics tools to publishers and advertisers via an API and customizable widgets. Its technology delivers up to three owner-approved poll questions per visit, uses machine learning and predictive modeling to identify return users, and builds anonymous profiles broken down by categories and demographics. The service polls roughly 11 million people per month and counts organizations such as The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and The National Rifle Association among its users. CivicScience licenses its polling technology to publishers at no cost and monetizes by selling syndicated and custom research products from aggregated data, sharing revenue with partners when their data is used. The company plans to expand platform partnerships, automation technology, and hiring, and to broaden polling work to brands, government agencies, political sites, and educational institutions. Financially, CivicScience has raised a $1.2 million seed round, adding to a prior $1.6 million for a total of $2.8 million in funding.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Aug 2021