Loading organizations...
§ Private Profile · Austin, TX, USA
AI PR platform for communications professionals to measure, understand, and amplify earned media business impact using generative AI and LLMs.
Handraise, based in Austin, TX, United States, provides an AI-powered platform designed for PR and communications professionals to measure, understand, and amplify the business impact of earned media and press coverage. The company leverages large language models and generative AI to automate media intelligence, narrative control, and reputation engineering, aiming to streamline tasks without manual effort. In November 2023, Handraise secured $6.4 million in seed funding, led by Silverton Partners, with additional investment from Floodgate, Bill Wood Ventures, and Firebrand VC. The firm currently operates with 7 employees and targets PR, communications, and marketing teams at influential brands, with beta customers already utilizing its SaaS platform ahead of an official launch. Its leadership team includes founder Matt Allison, who previously founded TrendKite, a company acquired for $225 million. Handraise was founded in 2023 by Matt Allison.
Handraise has raised $6.0M across 1 funding round.
Handraise has raised $6.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Handraise has raised $6.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Handraise's investors include Silverton Partners, Amplify.LA, AperiamVentures, A'Z Angels, Floodgate, Infinity Ventures, Lux Capital, Uncork Capital, Michael Ma, Active Capital, Bill Wood Ventures, Capital Factory.
Handraise has raised $6.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $6.0M Seed in November 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2023 | $6M Seed | Silverton Partners | Amplify.LA, Aperiamventures, A'Z Angels, Floodgate, Infinity Ventures, LUX Capital, Uncork Capital, Michael MA, Active Capital, Bill Wood Ventures, Capital Factory, Firebrand Ventures, Sputnik ATX | Announced |
Handraise is an Austin-based technology company founded in 2023 that builds an AI-powered platform for Reputation Engineering™, unifying narrative intelligence, media signals, and machine interpretation to help enterprise communications teams spot emerging narratives, identify risks and opportunities, and shape their brand story in real time.[1][2][4][5] It serves Fortune 500 organizations and leading enterprise brands in public relations, corporate affairs, and reputation management, solving the problem of fragmented, outdated tools by providing a single system for instant insights into how media, AI, and audiences perceive their reputation.[1][3][5] Backed by a $6.4M seed round led by Silverton Partners in November 2023, Handraise demonstrates strong early momentum with investors like Mike Maples Jr. on its board and a team experienced in building PR analytics platforms like TrendKite and Cision.[1][4]
Handraise was founded in 2023 by Matt Allison, who brings 15 years of experience from TrendKite (acquired by Cision) to advising global brands, establishing Reputation Engineering™ as the next evolution in PR analytics.[1][2][4] The idea emerged from recognizing that reputation is increasingly dynamic in the AI era, with teams relying on slow, fragmented tools unfit for real-time narrative tracking across media and machines.[1][5] Early traction came swiftly: just months after launch, Handraise closed a $6.4M seed round in November 2023 led by Silverton Partners, with board support from figures like Mike Maples Jr., signaling validation in Austin's vibrant startup ecosystem via networks like Capital Factory.[1][4][6] Key hires like CTO David Perdue and a leadership team from category-defining enterprise software companies pivoted the focus toward AI-native tools for enterprise-scale reputation management.[1]
Handraise stands out in the crowded PR tech space through these key strengths:
Handraise rides the AI-driven transformation of public relations and reputation management, where narratives form instantly across media, social, and large language models (LLMs), making traditional tools obsolete.[1][5] Timing is ideal amid rising AI adoption—enterprises need tools to counter "blind spots" in machine-generated summaries and viral risks, amplified by market forces like generative AI's influence on public perception and regulatory scrutiny on brand trust.[1][4][5] By enabling "narrative intelligence," Handraise influences the ecosystem, empowering comms leaders at global brands to shape AI-era stories, much like early analytics firms defined modern PR; its inclusion in CB Insights' AI Expert Collection underscores its fit in the 9,000+ company AI wave.[4]
Handraise is poised to redefine Reputation Engineering as AI reshapes media and trust, with expansion into more Fortune 500 clients and deeper LLM integration driving growth beyond its seed stage.[1][4][5] Trends like real-time AI monitoring and executive dashboards will propel it, potentially capturing share from legacy players like Muck Rack amid enterprise demand for unified intelligence.[2][4] Its influence could evolve into a category leader, equipping brands to not just monitor but engineer narratives in an always-on world—transforming fragmented PR into a strategic superpower, much like its mission promises: clarity in the moments that matter.[1]