AI content moderation platform Spectrum Labs relocates HQ to Miami to access diverse talent pool

Spectrum Labs, an artificial intelligence-powered content moderation platform, has announced that it is moving its headquarters to Miami.

The startup, founded in 2016, has been based in San Francisco. The company has signaled that it is in the process of looking for office space but plans to remain a remote-first company with a distributed workforce of 40 employees across the US.

The key driver for this move was to tap into Miami’s diverse and highly-skilled talent pool. In a statement, Spectrum Labs’ CEO and co-founder, Justin Davis, said that the startup “is focused on building brighter and cleaner communities.”

He continued: “A key part of this is diversity of thought. Having diverse perspectives is a catalyst in building an inclusive AI company, especially one in content moderation. This move to Miami gives us access to a diverse and highly skilled talent pool that will enable us to build innovative solutions and power a better internet as we live more of our lives online.”

Davis told Refresh Miami that another pull to Miami was “Mayor Suarez’s focus on building a vibrant tech community.”

Simultaneously, Spectrum Labs reports that it is sponsoring the Inclusion by Design Fellowship from the ethical tech nonprofit Oasis Consortium. The goal for the fellowship is to enable diverse leaders from early-stage, community-based startups to make their platforms safe from inception. Recipients will receive discounted access to Spectrum Labs’ platform.

“Safety by design, privacy by design, and representation by design are critical in creating better online communities,” said Davis. “As we look to the future of the Internet, the Inclusion by Design Fellowship gives green founders the opportunity to build Trust & Safety in their platforms from the get-go, ensuring more people are protected.”

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Spectrum Labs’ relocation decision shows that Miami offers leaders everything they need to build a tech company.

“We’re focused on providing a business-friendly environment while also ensuring we build a city that works for everyone. We welcome companies like Spectrum Labs who will play a significant role in helping us grow a robust and inclusive tech hub, and commend their efforts to incentivize diverse startup founders to prioritize safety in their technology through their sponsorship of Oasis’ Inclusion by Design Fellowship,” Mayor Suarez said in a statement.

Spectrum Labs is on a mission to help companies build safe, inclusive, and engaged communities. Using AI, they are able to more efficiently and effectively flag toxic online content. Their platform detects harmful behavior like hate speech, sexual harassment, and cyberbullying in text and audio. Applications for this technology are wide-ranging, from dating apps and social networking to retail marketplaces and e-sports.

On top of offering robust analytics tools, Spectrum Labs also enables companies to automate their response to problematic content in real time. Companies can train their own AI models by liaising with Spectrum Labs’ in-house experts to sample and label each client’s proprietary data.

Spectrum Labs has received $13 million of funding, including a $10 million Series A led by Greycroft in September 2020. The startup has hit on a few important – and profitable – trends. First of all, the marketplace for AI software is estimated to grow to $126 billion by 2025. 

Equally, there is also an increasing appetite for software that cuts down on online harms. The public sector in particular is leading the charge, with the UK government having published a major Online Safety Bill earlier this year. This comes on the heels of the launch of an £8.6 million ($11.5 million) taxpayer-funded research center to combat online harms, in conjunction with leading universities.

According to Davis, Spectrum Labs is hiring for roles including software engineering, data science, and account management. Learn more by visiting their careers page.

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Riley Kaminer