A startup founded by the former CEO of Cintrifuse and an ex-executive from Paycor has raised more than $1 million in funding with backing from some of the most notable names in the Cincinnati business community. The raise comes just four months after its formal launch earlier this year.
BrandRank.AI, a startup offering generative artificial intelligence-based brand search analytics, closed a $1.2 million round led, in part, by Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, based in Menlo Park, Calif., and Houston’s Mercury Fund.
The round also included a host of individuals, several with ties to Procter & Gamble, including former P&G CEO and ex-Disney Chairman John Pepper and wife Francie Pepper; Cincinnati early venture capital leaders and Reds & FC Cincinnati investors, Jack and Peg Wyant of Grandin Properties; Ed Rigaud, a former P&G executive who sold Legacy Acquisition Corp. for $285 million; and Claritas CEO Mike Nazzaro.
Other investors include Antenna Analytics CEO Jonathan Carson; Gen.Video Chairman Bill Hildebolt; former P&G and Google executive (now DoubleVerify chief commercial officer) and women’s sports teams and women's sports media investor Julie Eddleman; former P&G sustainable supply chain leader Ashish Chatterjee; serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Dave Balter (Flipside Crypto, BzzAgent); former senior Omnicare executive Tracy Finn (now principal of Bridge Healthcare Partners); and Jim Lites, vice chairman of California Strategies, California’s largest public policy consulting firm.
The funds will be used to accelerate BrandRank’s technology development. The startup also plans to onboard a sales organization and build support infrastructure.
Co-founders Pete Blackshaw, CEO, and Hank Hudepohl, chief operating officer, launched BrandRank.AI in March. The startup helps brands measure, protect and grow trust through AI-driven search and discovery.
Blackshaw said today’s “answer economy” – powered by generative AI – is revolutionizing how consumers discover, explore and purchase products and services. A single generative AI search response can significantly influence a consumer's purchasing decision.
“LLMs (large language models like ChatGPT and Llama) are bringing a heavy dose of consumer-centricity to how they answer questions and respond in real time, and brands have been caught off guard,” he told me. “It's a major disruption. It’s our hope our data will help companies become more nimble (because) brands can’t afford not to know their standing in the AI answer box.”
BrandRank.AI's SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform combines AI with expert insights to monitor generative AI engines to pinpoint vulnerabilities and opportunities, identify insights driving purchase behavior and uncover category needs to strengthen brand equity and consumer loyalty.
It then interprets those results to create scorecards, benchmarks and action items.
“We are developing technology to monitor what AI answer engines are saying about brands – be it fact or fiction – and then we give them ways to take ownership,” Hudepohl said in a news release. “Helping brands build trust with the consumer is at the center of what we do.”
The $1.2 million in funding will largely help BrandRank.AI continue to build out its capabilities. Blackshaw said the startup has aggressive targets: “There’s a decent amount of consulting woven into this technology, but when we go to the VCs (venture capital firms) for the next funding round, having that platform ready to go will be critical,” he said.
In four months, BrandRank.AI has generated strong initial traction. It has landed six corporate customers, including Nestle – where Blackshaw served as a global head of digital before joining Cintrifuse as CEO in 2018.
The company said its pipeline also includes more than a dozen other high-potential brands, and in recent weeks, the firm has expanded its brand analytics to professional athletes including pilots with four NBA players. The Brandrank team declined to name them, although Blackshaw has mentioned working with now-retired center Joakim Noah in recent social media posts.
For Nestle, BrandRank.AI has completed audits for three brands, presenting those findings to the entire marketing organization. The startup offered actionable insights on sustainability along with supply chain, responsible AI and advertising claim validation.
Lee Beech, senior director of customer experience for Nestle Canada, called the insights “electrifying.” It inevitably helps the company better connect with customers, he said.
Blackshaw and Hudepohl have known each other for two decades and made the leap to Brandrank.AI together. Hudepohl spent nearly 10 years at TripAdvisor and most recently served as vice president of core products at locally based Paycor, a publicly traded payroll and human resources company.
Currently, BrandRank is looking to hire a sales manager. The team stands at 13, including interns and those serving in fractional, or part-time, roles, and recent C-suite additions include Kelly Cohen, chief scientific adviser, and Matt Cox, chief technology officer.
Blackshaw didn’t give a timeline for the next fundraise but is already laying the foundation. This first round heavily featured angel investors on purpose.
“We wanted more flexibility,” he said. “The danger in taking institutional money too early, there’s an expectation you’re going to run in (the first) direction you proclaim. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at some of the new opportunities that have emerged, like sports, and it’s an area we really want to turn over the rock on.”
The company has set up shop at the Strietmann Center in Over-the-Rhine. Strietmann was rehabbed in 2016-2017 by the Wyants and Grandin Properties. Startup Electrada, a developer, owner and operator of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, is also housed in the building.
