Particle, a new player in the digital news landscape, officially launched its website, Particle.news, offering an AI-powered news reader designed to help users better understand current events without detracting from publisher traffic. In 2023, the former Twitter stars Sara Beykpour and Marcel Molina teamed up to create Particle. Their goal is to transform the way readers get and perceive news.
Sara Beykpour was the former senior director of product management at Twitter. She’s an incredible addition, bringing a deep experience of product development and user engagement. Marcel Molina joined the team with a strong technical background. He worked as a senior engineer at Twitter and then Tesla, further bolstering Beykpour’s technical knowledge. Together, they have established Particle with a clear mission: to provide concise news summaries that enhance comprehension without undermining the efforts of traditional news publishers.
To date, Particle has raised a total of $15.3 million in funding since its founding. That’s up from $4.4 million in seed funding and a total of $10.9 million in follow-on Series A funding, led by Lightspeed. This new capital will allow the company to develop its platform and expand its quality product offerings.
The new website, Particle.news, features a user-friendly interface that allows visitors to browse various categories including Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Science, Crime, Economics, and Video Games. Day on Click’s home page exposes users to the day’s most visited stories first, giving users a clear picture of what’s trending in real-time.
Particle’s approach is different from other recent efforts in the space. For example, Yahoo’s recent acquisition of the Artifact news app is indicative of a larger trend toward AI-driven news summarization. Particle does things a little differently. Rather than outsourcing reporting to AI bots, which tend to miss the mark on human perspective and context, we focus on the richness of human-driven journalism. Instead, Particle looks to complement and expand reader understanding through the power of AI in a way that serves the journalism landscape with integrity and care.
Beykpour’s path into journalism started in August 2011 when she was hired by TechCrunch as a reporter. Her diverse professional background includes extensive work in IT across various industries such as banking, retail, and software before transitioning into tech journalism. This uncommon perspective shapes her ambitious vision for Particle, an inclusive platform that empowers users to consume the news that matters to them with clarity and ease.
Marcel Molina’s deep technical experience rounds out Particle’s commitment to innovative retooling and reflection. His experience at major tech companies has taught him invaluable lessons. It’s this passion and expertise that could help him create the kind of AI tools that can take complicated news stories and turn them into intelligent, understandable summaries.
Particle’s founders share their commitment to making readers understand the news smarter and faster. They believe that a smart design is the key to achieving their ambitious goal. They care about the responsible deployment of AI technology that augments rather than competes with traditional publishers. As the media landscape continues to change, this philosophy is more important than ever. Consumers expect quicker turnaround on information more than ever, but they continue to seek trusted authorities.