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MIT Media Lab spinoff Luminoso scores $6.5M in funding

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October 18-20, 2023 / Tucson, AZ
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The Story

Luminoso, a Cambridge-based text analytics company that has its roots in the MIT Media Lab, announced Wednesday that it’s raised $6.5 million in Series A funding, led by Acadia Woods and with participation from Tokyo-based Digital Garage.

Catherine Havasi, CEO and co-founder of Luminoso, said the company will use the latest funding to expand its workforce from its current 20 employees to a little over 30 by the end of the year. Some new hires will include a VP of sales and other product-related positions, she said.

To help accommodate this growth, Havasi said the company is moving in August from offices on Broadway in Kendall Square to a 7,500-square-foot space at 675 Mass. Ave. in Central Square, the same location previously inhabited by Harmonix.

The startup helps give structure to “unstructured data,” helping companies dig deep into information whether it’s on social media or a vast database.

Since launching from the MIT Media Lab in 2010, Luminoso counts about 60 to 70 customers, including Fortune 1000 companies such as MARS, SonyIntel, Scotts and ConAgra. The startup helps analyze vast amounts of data and “make intelligent, data-driven decisions about applications and processes,” according to a release. Last month, Luminoso also announced a partnership with Sony to power Sony’s One Stadium Live, a social network experience dedicated to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Previously, Luminoso had raised $1.5 million in seed funding from angel investors in 2012

MIT Media Lab spinoff Luminoso scores $6.5M in funding, prepares to move into Harmonix’s old office – Boston Business Journal.

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