Truthset Founder & CEO Scott McKinley Fresh Off A $5M Series A

You’ve probably heard of Truthset from its groundbreaking study revealing that nearly half of ad targeting data is inaccurate. Maybe you saw their work with Televisa, showing how major third-party data providers underrepresent Hispanic individuals. Or perhaps you just heard about them yesterday, when Axios announced Truthset's $5M Series A funding to drive more accuracy in the trillion-dollar consumer data industry.

The Measure sat down with Truthset Founder & CEO Scott McKinley for an exclusive interview that dives into the origin of the company, and what the future has in store.

1. What inspired you to start Truthset?

After 25 years in digital advertising, I decided it was time to do something good for the industry and settled on solving the data accuracy problem. Consumer data powers nearly a trillion dollars of value and everyone benefits when the data is better. Seeking truth and transparency doesn’t always make for a great business model, but it was important enough to give it a shot.

2. How does Truthset measure data accuracy?

We work with some of the largest data providers in the world, including Experian, Transunion, and Epsilon, as well as dozens of other leading companies to analyze the accuracy of their data, help them improve, and give their customers choices. To do this, we developed a patented algorithm that ingests diverse data from multiple sources, compares it to “ground truth” validation sets, and creates Truthscores for every single record spanning over 1.2 billion emails tied to 133 million households and 25 attributes.

3. Can you give an example of how a company might use Truthset's services?

A brand would use Truthset to filter out inaccurate records in an audience file before targeting to drive better relevance and results; a publisher would use us to improve the fidelity of their audience data and expand their identity keys to increase match rates; a measurement company would use us to align to a common objective accuracy standard for exposed audiences which need to be extrapolated accurately. Typically, all of our clients see 30-50% improvement in data accuracy, whether for identity or attributes.

4. How do you plan to use the new $5 million in funding?

Truthset pioneered the data validation industry, and we will use these funds to further strengthen our leadership position. In the coming months, we’ll be launching several new products designed to give the entire advertising industry greater confidence for audience targeting, identity resolution, and more. We also plan to make strategic hires to drive growth with media and advertising clients, as well as within The Data Collective.

5. What's your vision for Truthset's future in the data industry?

We intend to be the arbiter of truth for consumer data to lift all boats in the data supply chain. In 2025 we will introduce the first-ever Data Ratings, allowing buyers and sellers to transact on different levels of data accuracy, depending on the use case. For instance, buyers might pay a premium for AAA-rated data to fuel AI modeling, analytics, and insights, while opting for B-rated data for broader targeting and awareness campaigns.