The move comes after the Dublin-based news intelligence firm, founded in 2011, launched a new agentic AI service that is attracting new corporate clients
The Dublin firm, co-founded by CEO Paul Quigley in 2011, had raised almost €20m in funding and counts the BBC, AP and The New York Times among its clients.
“NewsWhip’s AI-driven insights give brands a predictive edge that’s critical in today’s fast-moving digital world,” said Ryan Barretto, CEO of Sprout Social.
“Their technology unlocks real-time, actionable intelligence that allows businesses to stay ahead of trends and risks. This acquisition accelerates our vision of delivering an agentic, AI-powered platform that seamlessly connects media foresight with social strategy to drive transformative outcomes for our customers.”
Mr Quigley will stay as part of the newly acquired set-up, becoming general manager for Sprout’s Listening business, overseeing both NewsWhip and Sprout’s Listening products.
“We founded NewsWhip to harness real-time intelligence to redefine how brands and publishers anticipate and act on media trends,” said Mr Quigley.
“Sprout Social’s market-leading platform, proven go-to-market strategy and commitment to innovation make them the ideal partner to build on this vision. Together, we’re poised to deliver incredible value to our customers and establish a leading position in the rapidly growing predictive intelligence market.”
According to Sprout Social, the acquisition was funded with Sprout’s revolving credit facility and cash on its balance sheet.
“We are excited to deepen Sprout’s Listening capabilities with NewsWhip’s industry-leading real-time insights and innovative AI agents, which we believe will accelerate our AI roadmap over the next several years,” said Joe Del Preto, CFO of Sprout Social. “NewsWhip has earned the trust of globally recognised brands for critical crisis management. We will discuss NewsWhip in more detail on our second-quarter earnings call on August 6, 2025.”
Nasdaq-quoted Sprout Social says it serves 30,000 brands among its customer register. It sells publishing and engagement functionality, customer care, influencer marketing, advocacy and AI-powered business intelligence. The company’s software operates across all major social media networks and digital platforms.
The news comes after NewsWhip launched an AI agent than can detect signs of virality, positive or negative, across the internet and social media platforms.
”We have a lot of news media and PR agencies, but our biggest growth area now is large US corporates,” Mr Quigley told the Irish Independent last week.
”These are big tech companies and big consumer brands. And it’s accelerated in the last month, since we announced we were launching AI agents. You can get into real trouble with a news influencer or someone on social media, and there’s now so many places where that can happen.”
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