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A map showing Factal’s geolocated coverage areas over a 48-hour period last week. (Factal Image)
In an increasingly volatile world, especially one now inundated with misinformation, Seattle-based risk-verification startup Factal is partnering with International SOS, a global health and security services firm.
International SOS is investing $1 million in Factal as part of the deal, the companies announced Tuesday.
Factal launched in October 2018 using a blend of artificial intelligence and experienced journalists to identify and verify events ranging from severe weather to mass shootings. Corporate clients are alerted so they can make smarter decisions related to people, property and operations in proximity to such events.
The startup was co-founded and is led by veterans of the former Breaking News website and app, including Factal CEO Charlie Tillinghast; VP of Product Cory Bergman; and VP of Technology Ben Tesch.
International SOS offers companies a suite of intelligence services to protect workers from medical or security threats. Tillinghast told GeekWire that world events have been moving so quickly that International SOS was looking for a way to provide customers with faster, more accurate updates on critical incidents.
“They’re just taking our content, mainly through the API, and also just using our platform directly,” Tillinghast said. “The investment was more about giving them a piece of the action, so that when we benefit from the growth that their distribution provides, they can share in the upside, outside of just a pure transaction.”
Tillinghast said International SOS has 10,000 customers, and 3,000 of those would be direct users of Factal. Factal customers will also gain access to International SOS travel safety tools which allow organizations to view when itineraries intersect with global incidents.
“The scale of their operation is just huge. So that’s what makes this exciting,” he said.
Factal has been growing rapidly itself. The startup, which has raised about $5.6 million to date, including a $3.3 million round in 2021, saw revenue grow 42% year-over-year. Factal is also cash-flow positive, and headcount has grown to 50 employees.
From left: Factal founders Cory Bergman, Charlie Tillinghast, and Ben Tesch. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop)
Jarrett Michau, CEO of Americas Assistance at International SOS, called Factal’s approach to fast and verified risk intelligence “pioneering.”
“There has been an alarming surge in unverified information, making it increasingly difficult for organizations to access reliable and trusted information that is crucial when protecting the mobile workforce,” Michau said in a statement.
Bergman said ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine constitute a big chunk of what Factal tracks and publishes nowadays. And as events stack on top of each other, organizations need reliable information so they know what impacts workers, travelers, facilities and more.
“It used to be about finding information on social media, and now just finding it is not enough,” Bergman said. “You need to know if it’s actually real, if it’s actually relevant.”
Bergman said Factal’s relatively small operation has expanded to a newsroom that’s divided by regional expertise. There are employees with deep experience in different parts of the world, who understand languages and the track record of sources as well as common types of bad information that surface.
In addition to AI and human journalists, as well as International SOS analysts who will now be part of the Factal network, Factal also relies on community involvement. Customers who log into Factal can chat directly with editors, and members can also chat directly with one another about evolving incidents.
“That’s been really exciting to see members actually sharing information with each other in context of being able to keep people safe and be able to figure out how to respond to these events as they occur,” he said. “It’s not just about magical AI and being able to have journalists figure everything out. It’s also about having a community to help fill in the blanks and be able to have more eyes on the ground.”
