Capital idea as Leeds tech firm wins investment

Baird Capital, the direct investment arm of financial giant Robert W Baird & Co, is putting $25m into Crisp, which provides a pioneering range of social media brand safety and monitoring services.

Crisp says the backing will enable it to build on its current 100 per cent year-on-year growth and increase its headcount from 100 to 200.

It will also be putting extra resources into the continued development of its AI-based social media risk detection platform and expanding its sales and marketing operations worldwide, particularly in the United States.

Baird Capital partner Andrew Ferguson said: “Crisp’s culture is a strong fit with Baird’s and our global footprint and resources are well positioned to help the business to expand its international footprint further.

“Since its founding, Crisp has been focused on digital risk protection in a social media context and is building a highly respected reputation in this quickly evolving space.

“We look forward to working with the team in the next exciting phase of Crisp’s growth.”

Crisp has been lending its expertise to hundreds of global brands – including top names from the media, entertainment and fashion industries – for more than 10 years, combining “the world’s best” AI-based social media risk detection tech with “real-time human intelligence”.

Baird Capital is taking a minority interest in Crisp, with Mr Ferguson joining its board of directors.

The Yorkshire Evening Post runs a regular Digital City column in partnership with Sky Betting & Gaming.

The platform aims to highlight the giant strides being made by a sector that boasts around 3,000 organisations in Leeds.