Digital Science invests in AI platform Writefull

Holtzbrinck technology company Digital Science has invested in Artificial Intelligence-based language platform Writefull, the company's first significant investment in AI.

The platform helps authors improve the clarity of their work by suggesting improvements to grammar, spelling and academic language uses such as sentence structures in scientific writing and appropriate word choice.

Writefull was previously a winner of a Digital Science Catalyst Grant to aid its development from an early stage idea to a high-growth potential company. Digital Science said said Writefull’s Deep Learning models have learned from billions of sentences taken from the scientific literature, making it very different from the standard rules-based grammar applications.

Steve Scott, director of Portfolio Development for Digital Science, said: “I first met Juan and Alberto, the Writefull founders, in 2016, and their potential to make a huge impact in the research space was immediately clear. Writefull will help authors to improve and express their ideas clearly before they submit articles for publication, especially those who have English as their second language. And publishers can use it to help relieve the administrative burden on editors, to maintain house style and to help with quality control.”

Juan Castro, c.e.o. of Writefull, said support from Digital Science had been invaluable. “From winning the Catalyst Grant, to the advice we were given through the programme, to receiving this significant investment, Digital Science has enabled us to quickly develop the idea towards becoming a service that researchers and publishers can use. We’re excited to be joining the portfolio,” he said.

The Digital Science portfolio also includes ventures such as Altmetric, Readcube, Symplectic and Dimensions.