Financial AI Firms BridgeWise, Context Analytics Merge
Global AI firm BridgeWise has acquired Chicago-based Context Analytics. The deal combines BridgeWise's institutional AI with Context Analytics' alternative data processing to create what the companies call the industry's first fully integrated intelligence solution for wealth management.
- Tel Aviv-based BridgeWise was founded in 2019 and has raised a total of $35 million in funding, including a $21 million Series A round in April 2024 led by SIX Group. - Context Analytics, founded in 2019 and based in Chicago, specializes in using AI to analyze unstructured data like news, social media, and corporate filings to create actionable sentiment scores and machine-readable data for financial markets. - The acquisition aims to address a gap in the market, as an estimated 80% of global securities lack analysis from traditional financial institutions. BridgeWise's AI analyzes over 90% of listed global securities. - The CEO of Context Analytics, Joe Gits, stated that joining BridgeWise will help realize the full potential of the technology they've built over the last 13 years by combining their ability to decode unstructured financial text with BridgeWise's institutional AI. - BridgeWise's technology includes a machine learning algorithm trained on over 20 years of historical data and a generative AI that creates reports in over 22 languages. - The merger is part of a larger trend of increased M&A activity in the AI sector, which saw a 20% year-over-year increase in transactions in 2024, driven by the need for companies to acquire specialized AI capabilities. - Prior to the acquisition, BridgeWise had already established a global presence with clients in over 15 countries, including Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the US, and had recently opened an office in Tokyo to support its growing team in Japan.
