Babbl Labs Wins BattleFin Alt Data Challenge 2025
NEW YORK, NY – June 13, 2025 – Babbl Labs, the leading provider of institutional-grade video intelligence for financial markets, today announced that Co-Founder and CEO Ramsey Shaffer has been crowned winner of the BattleFin Alta Data Challenge – New York 2025. The prestigious competition recognizes the most innovative alternative data solutions transforming investment decision-making on Wall Street.
Shaffer's winning presentation showcased Babbl Labs' groundbreaking YouTube Stock Market Experts & Influencers (YSMEI) dataset, which transforms unstructured long-form video content into actionable trading signals for quantitative hedge funds. The platform monitors over 25,000 curated YouTube channels, analyzing commentary from industry experts, corporate executives, and market influencers to provide early indicators of market-moving events.
"Ramsey's visionary approach to leveraging alternative data sets stood out among a field of incredible innovators," said BattleFin in their announcement. "We can't wait to see how Babbl Labs will continue to disrupt and redefine data-driven decision-making."
Capturing the Untapped Signal in YouTube's 6 Trillion Annual Minutes
YouTube dominates the social media landscape with nearly 6 trillion minutes watched annually in the US, yet fewer than 3% of major quantitative hedge funds actively monitor the platform for investment signals. Babbl Labs addresses this critical gap by providing the first institutional-grade solution for extracting market intelligence from long-form video content.
"The most valuable market commentary now happens in long-form video interviews, podcasts, and product reviews, not earnings calls," said Shaffer. "Our proprietary AI platform captures these insights days before they cascade through traditional channels, creating a significant information advantage for systematic investors."
The YSMEI dataset has already demonstrated its predictive power, identifying market-moving commentary that preceded major price movements in stocks including Tesla, GameStop, and Fisker. The platform's advanced AI models provide multi-dimensional sentiment analysis, explicit buy/sell recommendation detection, and speaker identification across 50,000+ executives, experts, and influencers.
Rapid Commercial Traction with Top-Tier Institutions
Since pivoting from consumer news alerts to institutional data in late 2024, Babbl Labs has secured trial agreements with 10 hedge funds, including multiple top-10 global asset managers representing over $5 trillion in assets under management. The company recently closed $300K in funding led by Groove Capital, extending runway into Q2 2026.
"This recognition from BattleFin validates our belief that YouTube represents the next frontier in alternative data," added Shaffer. "We're not just monitoring social media sentiment – we're providing verified insights from qualified experts and public figures who drive market narratives."
The company's roadmap includes expansion into additional long-form media formats, brand perception analytics, and international markets. Babbl Labs is preparing for a larger institutional funding round in early 2026 as it scales to serve enterprise clients across multiple verticals.
About Babbl Labs
Founded in 2024, Babbl Labs structures the world's video knowledge into actionable intelligence for institutional investors. The company's AI-powered platform transforms unstructured long-form video content from YouTube and other sources into real-time, monetizable data used by hedge funds and corporations. Based in the United States, Babbl Labs is backed by Groove Capital and a network of strategic advisors from the alternative data industry.
Media Contact:
Babbl Labs
Email: ramsey@babbl.dev
Website: www.babbl-labs.com
Note to editors: High-resolution images from the BattleFin event and additional company information are available upon request.
