Spiketrap
AcquiredSan Francisco, US · Founded 2016 · Delaware corporation · 6 known investors
Spiketrap is a provider of conversation intelligence, applying AI to analyze online conversations. The company has been acquired by Reddit.
Also known as Spiketrap, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Investors · 6
Also in the syndicate · 1
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$3.7M disclosed across 1 of 3 rounds · 2018–2020
▶$3.7MraisedJun 2020 · 18 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Virgilio PigliucciExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Kieran FitzpatrickExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Offering amount
- $3.7M
- Amount sold
- $3.7M
- First sale
- Jun 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2016
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Spiketrap was a San Francisco-based company that applied artificial intelligence to unstructured online conversation data, positioning itself as a provider of conversation intelligence and audience contextualization. Its platform allowed companies and brands to track and analyze large volumes of online discussion in real time, using proprietary natural language processing and machine learning to determine what was being discussed while filtering out spam and noise.
The product set spanned contextual ad targeting, impact measurement, brand safety monitoring, and research and data-as-a-service offerings, built around a proprietary technology stack marketed as Clair AI plus a knowledge graph. The technology was designed to resolve which entities a piece of content referred to — including movies, TV shows, games and franchises — even when they were not explicitly named, and to handle ambiguities, abbreviations and acronyms. A companion Emotion AI component detected sentiment signals such as excitement, sarcasm and toxicity.
On September 1, 2022, Reddit announced it had acquired Spiketrap to strengthen its advertising business, citing applications in ad quality scoring, engagement prediction, improved targeting and prediction models for auto-bidding.
Founding story
Spiketrap was founded in 2016 by Kieran Seán Fitzpatrick, Virgilio Pigliucci and Andrea Vattani in San Francisco. The founders targeted the gaming community first, on the reasoning that a system able to understand those conversations could generate insights for any brand with a highly engaged and vocal audience.
Business model
Spiketrap sold access to its AI-powered conversation analytics platform to companies and brands, with solutions spanning contextual ad targeting, impact measurement, brand safety monitoring, and research and data-as-a-service.
Traction
By the time of the 2022 acquisition, Spiketrap's website cited over 20 employees, while Reddit described a 15-person team joining the company. Its customer base included Ubisoft, Bethesda, 2K and equity research firms covering media and entertainment.
Latest developments
Reddit announced the acquisition of Spiketrap on September 1, 2022, with deal terms undisclosed. The Spiketrap team joined Reddit to work on ads projects including ad quality scoring, engagement prediction and auto-bidding prediction models, and Reddit focused on merging Spiketrap's tools, technologies and resources while determining a go-forward strategy for the commercial business. Co-founder and CEO Kieran Fitzpatrick joined Reddit as Director of Product.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Spiketrap described itself as a provider of conversation intelligence and audience contextualization, with adoption among large gaming industry customers before its acquisition by Reddit.
Technology
The company built proprietary natural language processing and machine learning systems capable of ingesting large volumes of data in real time and contextually interpreting it while eliminating spam and noise. Its Clair AI technology, paired with a knowledge graph, identified entities referenced in content — including movies, TV shows, games and franchises — even when not explicitly mentioned, and handled ambiguities, abbreviations and acronyms. A separate Emotion AI capability detected sentiment such as excitement, sarcasm and toxicity. Investors noted that the company developed AI internally rather than relying primarily on open-sourced models from larger technology firms.
Go-to-market
The company sold directly to enterprise brands and publishers, entering first through the video game sector before extending to media and entertainment verticals. It added Mike Owen, formerly CRO at AdColony and a senior manager at Apple's iAd, as Chief Business Officer in late 2019 to expand its commercial operations.
Spiketrap's first customers were video game publishers, developers and streaming platforms, including Ubisoft, Bethesda and 2K, along with equity research firms focused on media and entertainment. It planned to expand into additional verticals such as movies, streaming television and consumer goods.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco, California.
History
Founded in 2016 by Kieran Seán Fitzpatrick, Virgilio Pigliucci and Andrea Vattani, the San Francisco company raised a pre-seed round led by Pathbreaker Ventures in 2018 and a seed round announced in mid-2020. It initially focused on the video game industry and planned expansion into movies and streaming television. In September 2022 Reddit acquired the company; the team joined Reddit's Product and Engineering organization, with Fitzpatrick becoming a Director of Product.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsReddit acquired Spiketrap to strengthen its advertising business, applying Spiketrap's AI-powered contextual analysis to ad quality scoring, engagement prediction, targeting and auto-bidding prediction models. Deal terms were not disclosed. The Spiketrap team joined Reddit's Product and Engineering organization.
Following the acquisition, Spiketrap co-founder and CEO Kieran Fitzpatrick joined Reddit as Director of Product.
Spiketrap announced a $3 million seed round led by Susa Ventures with participation from 645 Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Oceans Ventures, WndrCo, SV Angel, Anorak Ventures, Harry Stebbings of 20VC and several angel investors, to expand beyond video games into verticals such as movies and streaming television.
$3M source ↗
Spiketrap added Mike Owen, former CRO at AdColony and senior manager at Apple's iAd, as Chief Business Officer in late 2019 to expand its commercial presence.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- Spiketrapspiketrap.io · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Spiketrap do?
- Spiketrap was an AI conversation-intelligence and contextual advertising company acquired by Reddit in 2022.
- Who are Spiketrap's investors?
- Spiketrap's investors include 645 Ventures, Lighter Capital, Pathbreaker Ventures, Oceans Ventures, Susa Ventures.
- How much funding has Spiketrap raised?
- Spiketrap has disclosed $3.7M raised across 1 of its 3 known rounds.
- Where is Spiketrap headquartered?
- Spiketrap is headquartered in San Francisco, US.