False news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than accurate news stories. Faced with the spread of fake news and the damage it can cause, Spanish startup Precept has created an online platform, Youcheck, to connect journalists with subject-matter experts and optimize fact-checking.
The startup aims to develop technological solutions against misinformation to ensure that the digital age democratizes high-quality information. Youcheck was created in collaboration with Barcelona Activa, the city council's economic development agency, with the purpose of "not only helping experts' voices to stand out amid a cacophony of information, but also to allow journalists to write better knowledge-based articles,” Lorenzo Marini, Precept's CEO and founder, told CompassList.
Participating experts range from thematic specialists, who use Youcheck to enhance their personal brand, to consultants and business experts with experience in a particular sector. Others are conducting mobility studies for insurance companies.
Precept wants Youcheck to become a collaborative link with the media, but its aspirations do not end there. It aims to enter academia in the second phase with a SaaS capable of supporting much greater interaction.
"The idea is to launch the SaaS minimum viable product at the end of this year [2019]," said Marini at this year's 4YFN conference. "At the moment, we are collaborating with three universities and have a pre-agreement with another to achieve this objective."
He added: “Dealing with institutions is not as profitable, but we are interested because the expertise that comes out of the academic world has incalculable value and making this type of content available is one of our differentiating standards. It’s important to remember that non-academic content is often considered branded content."
MemeCheck
Precept was founded in the summer of 2017 and the Youcheck project was developed throughout 2018. Its first version was launched in November 2018 and it is currently available in Spanish. The company partners with the Open University of Catalonia and the College of Journalists of Catalonia, where Precept is currently located.
“As memes (images with text) are one of the formulas by which fake news becomes more viral, we are developing a free service against this kind of fake news, thanks to a grant of €50,000 from Google Digital News Initiative,” Marini said. This prototype is called MemeCheck and uses AI to locate fake news in instant messaging services.
The fact-checking application helps users to assess the veracity of a meme based on machine learning (ML), optical character recognition and user input. Offering it for free is a win-win for Precept and for the users because the high volume of users allows the startup to improve its proprietary data text-analytics algorithms.
MemeCheck consists of an inquiry app and an ML-based API that compares memes with facts, suggesting contextual information and potential validations.
“For example, when the user receives a meme in WhatsApp, the meme is redirected to the app, which uses Google Vision to obtain image tags. Then MemeCheck provides reliable articles on the specific topic,” said Marini. The tool is based on a vector label system and performs a contextual analysis on text-heavy images that virtually equates with a semantic understanding of the content.
The startup also offers a service to efficiently target press releases using its database. In this way, it avoids the traditional use of directories as a form of blind contact outreach.
Team and business model
Marini comes from the world of communication and digital journalism. He has previous experience in the European Council on Foreign Relations in communication strategy, media relations, web development and technology. "Creating a technological service related to press and communication was the next step, for me,” he said.
The Precept team is completed by two technical software engineers responsible for creating the Youcheck platform, and a data scientist with experience in eDreams who develops algorithms based on natural language processing. The whole team has been also trained in SaaS and digital marketing.
Precept further relies on input from its two advisors: Nicola Marini, the founder's cousin, is a computer engineer and former project manager at Accenture, who currently has an architecture project management company in London; and José Luis Carvalho has worked at Accenture and is Director of Digital Business Services EMEA at SAP in London. Both currently focus on business analytics and product channeling for the company. Plans are for them to increase their influence in 2020 when Youcheck is launched in English.
Youcheck is a totally free service for journalists and can be a free or a paid service for experts. On the basis of a freemium model, Precept's income comes from premium services offered to experts or companies in the form of individual registration (P2P) for €15 a month.
“Premium users will be able to answer more questions per month and will be notified in advance," said Marini. "Premium profiles have a higher return in terms of back linking and greater visibility than free ones. Once the SaaS B2B model is ready, Precept will have two monetization channels."
Investment, market and projections
Challenges so far have included user satisfaction and business traction. Another challenge is the Copyright Directive which, if approved, could limit some of Prefect’s developments.
An initial investment of €60,000 from Lorenzo Marini, Nicola Marini and José Luis Carvalho aided networking and permitted contact with Google, which led to a Google Scholarship of €50,000 in July 2019. An additional €30,000, again from the founder and advisors was invested in Precept at the beginning of 2018. At the end of that year, the company received an ENISA loan of €58,000.
“We are seeking contacts to open a financial round of at least €200,000 at the end of 2019 for the internationalization and development of the SaaS," said Marini. Our goal is to reach 10,000 users and the first thousand subscriptions by the beginning of 2020."
"We have good market indications for both SaaS and the marketplace, but we need a very high user base to be profitable," he continued. “Although there is no service structured like ours, there are similar ones in the Anglo-Saxon market, such as Muck Rack or HARO (Help A Reporter Out). Hence, despite our technological advantages, if they entered the Spanish market now, we would have to compete with more experienced people.”
With its technology, Precept could create a library of knowledge where users are able to access expert articles. As the flow of communication accelerates, the company continues to seek new formulas to respond to the increasing speed of news production.
