Iron Gate Capital, SJF Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, Boulder Heavy Industries (BHI), and RLB Holdings reinvest $5M to expand Respondology’s Comment Activation Platform vision.

Respondology, the pioneering leader in social media comment moderation and intelligence and creator of the industry’s first Comment Activation Platform, announced the successful closure of its $5 million Series A-1 funding round. This internal round builds on the $11 million Series A funding secured in 2023 from the same investor group, highlighting investor confidence in the company’s vision.

Respondology’s Comment Activation Platform operates in over 100 languages and provides two flagship products: Moderate, which protects brands in real-time from toxic comments, abuse, spam, and bots; and Discover, which delivers valuable insights by analyzing comment trends and sentiment in a few clicks and 30 seconds. Together, these solutions turn unstructured comment data into strategic marketing intelligence, helping brands enhance audience engagement and refine their marketing strategies.

Initially established as the industry leader in instant, AI-powered comment moderation, Respondology continues to expand beyond moderation in direct response to evolving market demands. As brands mature their social media marketing strategies, they’re asking for more than protection from comments and spam–they need a way to harness the insights hidden in those same comment streams. Investors reinvested in Respondology not just for its category-defining moderation capabilities, but because the company is meeting this growing demand: empowering brands to both safeguard their presence and extract meaningful, actionable intelligence from social conversations.

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“We backed Respondology again because they’re solving a real and growing problem for brands and using advanced AI to tackle it,” said Dan Geballe, Managing Director at SJF Ventures. “There’s no question that comment sections have become a critical part of how companies connect with their audiences—and in many cases, a liability. Reducing toxic noise, abuse, and spam creates safer online spaces and protects brand value. Respondology is way ahead of the curve in helping brands not just clean up those conversations, but learn from them, and realize higher return on investment for their paid social media efforts. They’ve defined a category and are building something with staying power.”

As platforms like Meta relax their hate speech policies, brands are increasingly left to protect themselves, and the stakes are high ($250 billion is estimated to be spent on social media advertising this year). Respondology’s moderation solution not only protects brand integrity in real time, it also boosts performance: clients see a 17.6% average increase in ROAS on TikTok and a 7.35% lift on Meta thanks to instant moderation. By eliminating toxic noise and surfacing meaningful insights, Respondology helps brands get more out of their social media investments.

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“Social media comment streams have become the number one communication channel between brands and their consumers, prospects, followers, and fans,” says Erik Swain, CEO & Co-Founder of Respondology. “But with platforms stepping back from enforcement, brands are left to fend for themselves–and they’re leaning in more than ever. This is why marketers not only want and need moderation, but also to learn from those social conversations and soon, engage in a personalized way at scale with their audience. This follow-on investment funds Respondology’s continued leadership delivering these in-demand solutions to the market.”

The company now serves over 450 brands across sports, entertainment, consumer goods, and marketing agencies, collectively protecting over two billion followers by moderating over 365 million comments globally. Respondology’s customers report immediate improvements, including an increase in return on ad spend (ROAS), significant time savings of internal resources, improved brand sentiment, and invaluable insights surfaced from the focus group in their comment sections.

The new investment will accelerate Respondology’s product development—enhancing existing capabilities and supporting the launch of a third flagship product—while also expanding the team and scaling go-to-market efforts to meet rapidly growing customer demand.

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