The firm will use the investment to expand its international sales and marketing capabilities and bolster its product development team. As a result of the funding, New World’s Stephen Altman and Charlotte Street’s Bo Pederson will join the board at Likely.

The firm’s technology identifies social interactions such as follows, shares and comments, to understand which things people are passionate about.

Likely CEO Daniel Shore said: “A brand is simply a collection of ideas that people are passionate about — we are using the vast amounts of data generated by social media to better understand and tap in to these passion points.”

Altman added: “Likely was brought to our attention as they enable early adopters of their techniques to steal an enormous advantage over their competitors. This was a key factor in generating significant levels of investor interest.”