Blab

Blab was a technology company that developed a predictive social intelligence platform. Founded in May 2012 by CEO Randy Browning, the Seattle-based startup aimed to provide brands with the ability to forecast online conversations and trends up to 72 hours in advance. Browning, a former advertising agency executive, identified a need for companies to move beyond reacting to social media chatter and instead anticipate what consumers would talk about next.

The company's core product, BlabPredicts, utilized patented technology and machine learning algorithms to analyze over 60 million daily posts from more than 50,000 news and social media sources. The platform would collect and pattern real-time data from text, images, and videos to predict whether a conversation would become a viral event or quickly fade. This enabled clients, which included Fortune 1000 companies and major media agencies like Mindshare and Razorfish, to proactively adapt their content strategies, optimize media spending, and manage their brand reputation with a claimed accuracy of 70 percent. The business model was subscription-based, with monthly fees ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 in 2014.

Blab secured multiple rounds of funding, including a Series B round of $8.8 million in December 2014, co-led by Blue Focus Communications Group and Shoreline Venture Management. The company was ultimately acquired by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in August 2017.

Keywords: predictive social intelligence, conversation prediction, social media analytics, trend forecasting, brand engagement, content strategy optimization, digital media buying, social econometric modeling, real-time analytics, viral prediction, marketing technology, data visualization, consumer insights, brand reputation management, ad spend optimization, social data, machine learning algorithm, media monitoring, competitor analysis, campaign strategy