Austin, Texas, May 15, 2012 – Umbel, which aims to set the standard for digital audience measurement, today announced that Knight Foundation participated in the company’s $3.7 million Series A round of venture financing through its Knight Foundation Enterprise Fund, a new, early-stage venture fund dedicated to advancing media innovation. The amount of the strategic investment was not disclosed.

Umbel marries traditional research and big data analysis of social sources to give publishers real-time intelligence about the audiences that engage with them. With this information in hand, Umbel empowers publishers to convey their audience’s true value and brand preferences more effectively to advertisers and sponsors. The recently-raised funds will be used to support new hires and aggressively execute on the product roadmap.

“By enabling news providers to become more data driven, Umbel makes original, online news content much more valuable,” said Michael Maness, vice president for journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation. “At a time when newspapers are losing $7 to $10 in print revenue for every $1 gained in digital revenue, being able to significantly boost the digital side will dramatically strengthen the ability of media organizations to inform and engage their communities.”

“Knight Foundation was a clear choice of investor for us. Our missions align and we have immense respect for all the foundation has accomplished so far. Their endorsement is great validation of Umbel’s technology, vision and purpose and through their large network of media, educational and nonprofit partners, we will deliver a new standard for measuring digital audiences,” said Paul Krasinski, Umbel’s CEO. “We're tackling a huge problem holding back almost all media companies, brands and non-profits today. The data to solve the problem absolutely exists. We will bring forth the technology that transforms that data into insights and puts publishers back in control over the the value of their hard-earned audiences.”