We mentioned this in our Q3 newsletter, but this significant move deserves more coverage. It signals the continued convergence of media monitoring, social management, and AI-driven insights. NewsWhip, in PRToolFinder’s Media Monitoring category, is a Dublin-based media intelligence platform. It is known for tracking millions of news and social signals per hour. Sprout Social, in PRT’s Social Media Monitoring & Scheduling category, is a leading social media management tool.
The $55 million cash transaction (with an additional $10 million in potential earnouts) officially closed this week. This brings NewsWhip’s entire team, including cofounder and CEO Paul Quigley, into the Sprout Social family. Quigley will now serve as General Manager of Sprout’s Listening Business, overseeing both the NewsWhip and Sprout listening products.
Cool Factor
For years, Sprout Social has been a leader in social media management, engagement, and analytics. It helps brands streamline publishing, customer care, and influencer marketing. NewsWhip, by contrast, has built its reputation as a real-time news intelligence engine. It empowers communicators to monitor how stories and narratives spread across platforms.
Together, these strengths position the combined company to provide what Quigley describes as a “complete social and news intelligence platform”. This platform helps businesses anticipate trends, manage crises, and act with precision and purpose.
From News Monitoring to Narrative Intelligence
In a reflective blog post announcing the acquisition, Quigley called NewsWhip “an improbable technology built by an improbable team.” He acknowledged the decade-long journey that transformed a startup idea into a core platform for the world’s top newsrooms and Fortune 500 brands.
What’s most exciting, he says, is what comes next. The merger with Sprout Social accelerates both companies toward the next generation of media and social listening software. It is the generation that’s “smart, agent-centric, and unites intelligence, teams, and action in one place.”
Sprout Social’s platform depth and established relationships across major digital networks will allow NewsWhip’s AI and data capabilities to reach new levels of impact. Is this an example of AI “Orchestration from a product standpoint?” As Quigley put it, “With AI, we can build solutions that are smart, agent-centric, and enable the connective tissue of teams, intelligence, and action in one place.”
Alignment is the Shared Vision for the Future
The alignment between Sprout and NewsWhip seems natural. It turns out many organizations already use both platforms. NewsWhip is used to uncover emerging issues and stories, and Sprout to engage audiences or manage responses. Now, these workflows can exist in a single ecosystem.
For PR and communications professionals, this union could redefine what’s possible in reputation management, issue detection, and crisis response — integrating the “what’s happening” of NewsWhip with the “what to do next” of Sprout.
What’s Next
The combined entity, now branded NewsWhip by Sprout Social, will continue to serve publishers, agencies, brands, and government organizations. It will do so with its signature focus on real-time data and insights. Development will continue on NewsWhip’s “Agents,” its evolving AI feature set designed to make insights more predictive and actionable.
As both teams get to work, it’s clear this acquisition isn’t just about scale — it’s about vision. Quigley closes his announcement with gratitude for NewsWhip’s customers, employees, and industry allies, promising that “with Sprout, we’re going to have serious firepower for the next phase.”
To read Paul Quigley’s full, thoughtful reflection on the acquisition — and his perspective on what’s next for AI-powered media and social intelligence — visit the NewsWhip blog.