Cortex, a startup that spun out of Boston social media agency Pandemic Labs in 2013, on Wednesday announced it has raised $500,000 to expand its software that uses artificial intelligence to simplify social media marketing.
Based in Boston, Cortex has been in stealth mode since its founding, according to a news release. The startup reports having acquired more than a dozen paying customers for its software-as-a-service, which replaces existing social media tools.
Some of the initial development for the product was done within Pandemic Labs, and paid for by Pandemic. The $500,000 round marks the first funding for Cortex as a stand-alone entity; among the investors are Sourcewater founder/CEO Josh Adler and Jere Doyle, a Boston-area angel investor who previously founded companies including Prospectiv.
Cortex aims to make companies more productive by automating redundant work. The company says that brands and agencies are able to save an average of seven hours per user, per week, with its software.
In a news release, Cortex chief revenue officer Matt Peters said the company will be competing with analytics and publishing platforms, which “make money as long as social is an involved, time-consuming, multi-step process.” Peters, who is the co-founder and CEO of Pandemic Labs, added in the release:
They have no incentive to simplify social media marketing … Due to Cortex’s AI, our customers know that competitors will be watched, content will be promoted, and posts will be executed optimally across their social platforms - all automatically.
Cortex’s founders are Peters and Brennan White, who together founded Pandemic Labs in 2007. White, a managing director at Pandemic, is serving as CEO of Cortex.
