At the beginning of last year, NewsWhip began the process of securing additional capital to fund the new phase of its growth. The Irish social media analytics firm had previously raised $9 million from backers including The Associated Press, the SaaS syndicate, and Tribal.vc, but it had not gone back to the funding well since 2016. Having reached the point of profitability in 2020, the company was generating enough revenue to cover its costs. But for CEO Paul Quigley and his team, the business needed more funds in order to take targeted “bets” on future opportunities. Last week, the company…