Member Article

Tech startup producing 'hyper-localised content' closes $20m Series A

London-based media agency Culture Trip, which creates ‘hyper-localised’ cultural, travel and food content, has closed a $20m (£16.3m) Series A funding round.

The startup, which has offices in London, New York and Tel Aviv, has attracted investment from Dutch international finance organisation PPF Group.

According to the startup, the investment, which follows $2m seed funding from US investor Gordy Crawford, will help to accelerate development of its AI-powered ‘bespoke knowledge graph’ technology which the firm says helps to create a more personalised user experience.

Culture Trip is also looking to expand its editorial reach across the globe and develop its commercial operation to help monetize its content offering.

The site already has over 30,000 articles and videos which provide cultural and culinary recommendations wherever a user is based in the world, derived from in-house content and filtered submission from a global community of contributors.

Founder Dr Kris Naudts, said that the startup remained focused on providing the ‘best cultura content’ from around the globe.

He added: “Culture Trip’s knowledge graph allows the creation of a more meaningful experience for our users, deepening the personalisation of content discovery with every new read. This investment will enable us to further this technology, and also expand our presence in new hubs around the world, to continue to develop our content offering.”

Ladislav Chvatal, Chief Officer for Strategic Projects of PPF Group added: “Culture Trip demonstrates exciting potential in both the media and tech landscapes, uniquely bridging a gap between curated content generation and proprietary technology creation.

“The company is taking a non-traditional approach to delivering cultural information, all while integrating some of today’s leading technologies. This new model of generating content for users refreshes today’s existing media market, making it an important venture that sees greater international growth and commercial development.”