KPMG Capital, a specialist data and analytics investment fund for KPMG member firms around the globe, has taken a substantial equity stake in Bottlenose Inc., a Los Angeles-based real-time trend intelligence company.

The Bottlenose cloud-based trend intelligence solution analyses real-time streaming data from social media and broadcast media, enabling organisations to anticipate trends and better manage risks impacting their businesses.

Providing a highly visual platform for real-time search and discovery across social and traditional media, Bottlenose analyses over 3 billion messages and 290 million data points per hour, filters out the ‘noise’, identifies the emerging influencers, topics and content, and simplifies ‘trend discovery’.

“Businesses should not underestimate the sheer volume, velocity, and variety of real-time data streams,” said Anthony Coops, head of data and analytics for KPMG in Australia. “Real-time streaming data of all types is putting huge pressure on decision makers to be able to appropriately and effectively address trends that could materially affect their organisations now or in the very near future.”

He said the applications for Bottlenose are “virtually limitless,” with potential uses as varied as risk and threat intelligence, forensic investigations, cyber threat detection, competitive intelligence as well as valuable insights into growth opportunities such as  improvements to products and services, and customer engagement.

“Today, we believe many businesses are focused on grappling with examining historical data, and missing the opportunity of current data. The key to success in today’s fast-paced environment is seeing and understanding what is happening in the present, in order to influence the direction of the future as it happens,” he added.

The investment follows KPMG Australia’s acquisition of leading social media risk consulting firm, SR7, earlier this year. KPMG SR7, as it is now known, is at the forefront of social media research and risk management in Australia.

James Griffin, a director with the firm, believes the combination of Bottlenose’s quantitative capabilities and KPMG SR7’s qualitative skills creates the deepest social media intelligence and risk consulting platform in Australia.

“From benchmarking competitor activity to tracking crises, real-time data and the insights derived from social media analysis are playing an increasingly important role in business strategy and decision making,” said Griffin.

“Given Australians are some of the biggest users of social media in the world corporates and the public sector are looking for solutions for understanding the conversations, managing risk and capitalising on the new opportunities.”

Social media is firmly on the agenda of boards and management of Australian companies. The legal consequences of not managing social media risks appropriately have intensified; advertising standards have been impacted; and there is increased scrutiny of listed companies’ social media practices in relation to continuous disclosure requirements.