StoryFit, a fast-growing AI technology company providing machine learning and audience insights to the entertainment industry, today announced a $5.5 million Series A funding led by Refinery Ventures. StoryFit will use the funding to expand customer solutions and implement an aggressive hiring strategy focused on machine learning, marketing and sales.
“At StoryFit, we’ve transformed the development process for some of the industry’s leading developers with industry-first AI solutions,” said StoryFit Founder and CEO Monica Landers. “Tim Schigel and Refinery have a long history of transforming industries. We are pleased to have them on board as partners in this mission.”
StoryFit uses breakthrough natural language processing and machine learning to deliver audience and content insights before production, enabling entertainment companies to deliver better content faster, identify and position stories for audiences, and improve a story’s overall performance throughout the journey across the entire content lifecycle.
The company also announced the expansion of its leadership team with the addition of Andy Terrel, PhD, as CTO. Terrel has successfully built and scaled data science and engineering teams from seed to IPO, including Anaconda, a platform used by millions of users worldwide. He joins the existing leadership team, which includes Founder and CEO Monica Landers, Chief Operating Officer Marc Evans and Head of Growth and Revenue Kymn Goldstein.
Refinery’s Managing Partner, Schigel, will join the StoryFit Board of Directors. Schigel founded ShareThis, a social media pioneer that nearly a billion people use to share online content every month. He also launched and manages Cintrifuse, one of the country’s top-performing fund of funds investing in 15 top-tier early-stage funds across the US. Previous successes include Advertising.com (AOL), Get2Chip (Cadence) and DotLoop (Zilow).
“I’m very impressed with what StoryFit has built and already achieved,” said Schigel. “We believe their technology and approach will offer the entertainment industry a whole new way to gain insights and achieve better ROI, from development to distribution.”