In the ever-expanding digital universe, ensuring the safety and appropriateness of online content has become a herculean task. Enter Unitary, a London-based AI-driven visual moderation company that's poised to revolutionize the game. Fresh off securing a $15 million Series A investment, Unitary is on a mission to provide ethical and empathetic AI solutions for the digital realm.
Unitary's journey begins with its CEO and founder, Sasha Haco, whose background is far from typical for tech founders. Haco, a Cambridge graduate with a PhD in theoretical physics, initially delved into the mysteries of black holes alongside the legendary Stephen Hawking. However, her quest for real-world impact led her to pivot towards solving tangible problems.
Haco's transformative journey continued when she joined Entrepreneur First, where she met her co-founder, James Thewlis. Together, they ventured into the intricate realm of online safety and content moderation. Unitary emerged as their solution to tackle this critical issue.
Unitary's mission is to understand content as comprehensively as a human can. It goes beyond surface-level analysis, taking into account contextual information that determines whether content is appropriate or not. This approach allows Unitary to distinguish between identical content with drastically different intents, enhancing online safety.
Unitary has set its sights on the B2B sector, providing a safety layer across platforms hosting user-generated content. From video-sharing websites to messaging services and marketplaces, Unitary's role in content moderation is vast.
Video content dominates the internet, constituting 80% of web traffic. The surge in video content is staggering, expected to increase tenfold between 2020 and 2025. Human moderation alone cannot keep up with this scale, making AI an indispensable tool.
Sasha Haco affirms that AI is well-equipped to handle this challenge, emphasizing that continuous improvement is essential. Unitary collaborates closely with customers to fine-tune moderation accuracy, addressing false positives and negatives according to each platform's unique needs.
Gemma Bloemen, a Principal at Creandum and one of Unitary's board members, acknowledges Unitary's exceptional journey. Creandum, known for backing Spotify and Bolt, has been impressed by Unitary's thoughtful product development, scaling, and commitment to content safety.
Sasha Haco believes in expanding opportunities for founders from diverse backgrounds. She emphasizes that startups should welcome outliers who are committed and driven to solve pressing problems. In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, where new challenges like deep fakes and misinformation emerge, Unitary remains steadfast in its mission to make the internet safer.
