Buried Signals

Investigative journalism as a service.
Powered by Spotlight.

A media company with its own investigation engine.

Buried Signals is my launch: public investigations create trust and distribution; Spotlight and the surrounding tools power the work; training and services help other journalists use the same methods.

01 Problem

Investigative work has more data, fewer reporters, and less local capacity.

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02 Prototype

AI agents that monitor, verify, archive, and assemble source-backed dossiers.

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03 Audience

Journalists first; audiences benefit through more transparent investigations.

What compounds

The project moved from a single tool idea to a working tool stack: Scoutpost for monitoring, OSINT Navigator for methods, Spotlight for investigations, and public source companions for accountability.

The Gap

<2%

of newspaper journalism can be characterized as investigative

<12%

of local-media stories are local, original, and meet a critical information need

$300K

and six months of reporter time for one deep public-interest investigation

The accountability gap is structural: investigative work is rare, local accountability reporting is thin, and deep reporting remains too expensive to scale.

The Current Tool Ecosystem

Four shipped tools now form the operating layer for Buried Signals investigations.

Spotlight

Lead-to-dossier investigation platform: browse, extract, archive, contradict, publish or hand off.

Scoutpost

AI journalism assistant for prompts, workflows, source checking and newsroom use cases.

OSINT Navigator

Open-source intelligence workflows for researchers, journalists and verification teams.

Mycroft

Internal monitoring and research support that turns signals into leads for reporting.

What Already Exists

The venture is not a concept deck. It is a working stack connected to published investigations.

Cleared

Tested collaborative investigation model with The New Humanitarian: article, documentary, shorts, data and sources companion.

OCCRP / Partner Work

Spotlight-supported workflows moving from raw leads toward sourced dossiers and partner handoffs.

Health Insider

Platform investigation work on fake AI doctors and large-scale Facebook ad operations.

01

Spotlight Platform

Give it a lead. It builds the investigation trace.

Spotlight plans the route, browses sources, extracts evidence, archives the record, searches for contradictions, and turns the work into a dossier a journalist can publish from or hand off.

Spotlight Is the Operating Platform

AI handles scale. Journalists keep judgment, sourcing standards, narrative and accountability.

Spotlight Layer

Lead intake Investigation plan Browser research Evidence extraction Archive capture Contradiction search Dossier assembly Partner handoff

Editorial Gates

Journalist Layer

Lead selection Source judgment Direct reporting Legal / ethical review Narrative edit Publication decision

Two Roles, One Platform

Spotlight can face the public as a verification layer and face journalists as a lead-generation engine.

Public Layer

Citizens submit or check claims.

Verify a claim or public document
Pledge demand for deeper investigation
Consult a public queue of unresolved leads

Journalist Layer

Reporters receive pre-framed leads.

Pre-verified leads with sources and contradictions
Demand signals from claims and pledges
Routing by region, language, topic and partner fit

This is the bridge from software to the channel platform: demand enters Spotlight, journalism comes out through Buried Signals and partners.

Citizen, journalist or partner submits a claim, tip or pledge

01

Public service

Fact-checking

An open verification service for citizens and journalists. Agents confront the claim with primary sources and return a verdict with evidence.

02

Spotlight + counter-investigation

First investigation

If a lead deserves deeper work, Spotlight runs the first investigation: plan, browse, extract, archive, contradict, and assemble a dossier.

03

Editorial triage

Partner routing

After human review, the dossier is routed to the best-placed newsroom or network by region, language, topic and risk.

↓ Public return

Verdict + primary sources, visible to the person who submitted the request

↓ Consolidated brief

Investigation + counter-investigation ready for editorial triage

↓ Deep investigation

OCCRP, GIJN, local investigative media, or Buried Signals video collaboration

Most requests stop at Gate 1. AI handles volume; journalists only receive leads that have crossed a quality threshold.

Spotlight V2 · New capabilities

From browser agent toinvestigation engine

What changes in the next build is not another chatbot. Spotlight becomes a web investigation environment: it follows leads, captures the trail, and challenges its own findings before a journalist spends reporting time.

01

Research

Multi-hop investigation

A lead can move from a person to a company, from a company to a registry, from a registry to a court file, and from a court file to a contradiction.

NameCompanyRegistryCourt fileDossier

02

Interactive navigation

Browse, fill forms, enter portals, and capture timestamped screenshots while the journalist can inspect or redirect the route.

03

Adversarial swarm

Before publication, agents look for contradictions, missing context, weak sourcing and source-quality problems.

Continuous monitoring, cumulative memory, OSINT Navigator and open methods are already in production.

Today

US and Chinese model dependency.

Fine-tuned Chinese open models can still run through external inference providers.
US-hosted model providers create CLOUD Act exposure for sensitive prompts and sources.
A single commercial inference vendor is not enough for high-risk investigations.

Spotlight stack

A Swiss sovereign path.

Swiss open model fine-tuned for journalistic planning, sourcing and contradiction.
Inference on Swiss GPUs, under Swiss jurisdiction.
Zero logging for prompts and sources; the newsroom owns the audit trail.
Open-source Spotlight, with a self-hosting path for high-risk partners.

Route Leads Through the Networks That Matter

Buried Signals does not investigate everything alone. Spotlight structures the lead; OCCRP and GIJN help it reach the right local investigative media.

OCCRP
Financial crime / corruption
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Corporate intelligence, offshore structures and cross-border corruption. Existing collaboration context around Black Cube.

GIJN
Global routing layer
Global Investigative Journalism Network: 250+ organizations in 100+ countries. The core network for routing dossiers to local investigative media and teaching AI investigation workflows.

Buried Signals

Cleared-style collaborations

When the lead fits the channel, Buried Signals co-publishes: partner reporting + Spotlight dossier + video investigation + sources companion.

See the case study

The platform supplies pre-verified signal. Partners supply local reporting power and subject expertise.

02

The Cleared Model

A tested collaboration model for creators and investigative media.

The New Humanitarian

Editorial & Research

Story leads and editorial depth
Established audience
Field reporting network
Distribution: web and newsletter

co-publishsyndicate

Buried Signals

Visuals & AI

Visual production and design
AI-powered investigation pipeline
Video and scrollytelling
Distribution: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram

Interactive article with visuals10-min documentary + 3 shortsSources companionGraphics package for syndication

Collaboration Model

Grants & Sponsors Pulitzer Center · IJ4EU · Remotion

Partner Publishers

The New Humanitarian
OCCRP / GIJN network
Local investigative media

Publisher Channels

Buried Signals

Investigation packaging and visual production
AI-powered research, source archive and contradiction workflow
Creator distribution across video, newsletter and sources companion

Owned Channels

Newsletter: methods and case notes
Workshops and behind the scenes

Investigation & Publishing Pipeline

Research & Scripting

Monitor

Lead scan

Research

Spotlight dossier

Fact-Check

Contradiction pass

Review

Editorial review

Script

Narrative draft

Edit

Script editing

Content Production

Visuals

ComfyUI + APIs

Footage

Stock & archive

Edit

Assembly

Edit

Review & edit

Publish

Cross-platform

Spotlight compresses the investigation work. Buried Signals turns the trace into publishable journalism.

Publishing Strategy

Flagship Investigations

Multimedia investigations built from Spotlight dossiers, published as video, article, sources companion, and data package.

Short-Form Distribution

Evidence-led Shorts
Platform-native explainers

Collaborative Cases

Co-published investigations with newsroom partners and creator channels. Shared reporting, shared distribution.

Commercial Support

Sponsor support for technical/media infrastructure, with editorial independence guaranteed.

Project Funding

Partners

The New Humanitarian Disclose TBIJ Reflekt European Correspondent OCCRP

Joint investigations, visual production, Spotlight-assisted research, and cross-border syndication.

Open Investigations

Every investigation ships with a public evidence layer — one QR scan away

Factuality Scores

Claim-level confidence scores and source listings

AI Disclosure

Which models were used, how, and where

Methodology

Summarized methods so anyone can replicate the investigation

Open Data

Cleaned datasets published for scrutiny

Interactive Dashboard

Viewers can explore, filter, and challenge the data

Ask the Dossier

Query the sources, claims, methods, and data behind the story

Framework adapted from Trusting News

03

Business Flywheel

Partners bring reporting and audiences

Workshops & speaking convert

Investigations

Distribution

Spotlight

Free tier

Newsletter

Free tier

Membership

$25–40/mo

Partner + owned cases Sources companions

Video, articles, shorts Partner syndication

Dossiers, traces, tools Team workspaces

700+ journalists Methods and case updates

Methods, leads, tools Workshops & classes

Revenue reinvested into investigations, platform data and tooling

Revenue Sources

Membership

Paid methods, tools, workshops, classes, partner calls and collaborative leads for journalists using AI in investigations.

Subscriptions

Workshops & Classes

Hands-on training around Spotlight, OSINT workflows, AI-assisted verification and editorial AI adoption.

Tickets / Fees

Grants

Project funding for public-interest investigations, open methodology, local media collaboration and cross-border reporting.

Pulitzer / IJ4EU

Consulting

Newsroom and NGO work: strategy sessions, training, custom AI builds and full pilots.

Fee-for-Service

Newsletter Paywall

700 journalist subscribers and counting

Membership

Free — $0/month

All public investigations Open-source datasets Newsletter highlights Free tool demos

Pro Membership — $25-40/month

Methods, tools, workshops, and collaborative leads for AI-era investigations

AI & Investigation Methodologies

Full Tool Suite

Workshops & Classes

Premium Articles

Tools Inside the Membership

Open-source lead-to-dossier investigation platform: browser agent, archive trail, contradiction pass and handoff package.

Monitoring scouts for beats, pages, social profiles, and civic materials.

Open-source intelligence guides, workflows and tool discovery for verification and investigation.

Monitoring and research support that turns weak signals into investigation leads and editorial opportunities.

Dataset discovery, monitoring and query workflows for public records, government data and recurring investigation targets.

Consulting

AI investigation training and custom builds for newsrooms.

Strategy session

A half-day for editorial leaders on how AI is reshaping news — from zero-click search to voice and content marketplaces.

From CHF 3,000

Delivered for

20 Minuten · Le Temps

Workshop

A hands-on day with your newsroom. Journalists leave knowing how to investigate or research with AI.

From CHF 3,500

Delivered at

MAZ Journalistenschule · Republik

Custom AI build

A bespoke AI pipeline for a specific newsroom problem — an archive made searchable, a monitor built for your beat, a fact-checker wired to your CMS.

From CHF 10,000

Built for

we.publish · MediaStorm

Full pilot

I install my AI extensions and orchestration systems at your newsroom, train the team, and accompany your first AI-assisted project end to end.

From CHF 8,000

Running at

Le Temps · Le Nouvelliste

Forecast

Revenue Forecast Targets

	2026	2027
Sponsorship	CHF 1,000	CHF 4,000
Subscriptions	CHF 0.9K	CHF 3,000
Consulting & Workshops	CHF 1,500	CHF 2,500
Partnerships / Grants	CHF 2,000	CHF 4,200
Total MRR	~CHF 5,400	~CHF 13,700

Sponsorship Subscriptions Consulting Grants

Roadmap

Content pipeline operational
Cleared-style collaborations + Spotlight V2 hardening
First sponsor secured
Newsletter-to-membership launch
Workshops, classes and community calls

100 members
Spotlight design partners
700+ newsletter subscribers
10K YouTube subscribers

12 investigations: partner cases plus owned Spotlight-led investigations
Channel-platform partnerships for collaborative investigations
Part-time investigative journalist hire
Short-form comedy journalism format launch
Spotlight V2: multi-hop, interactive browsing, adversarial review

300+ members
10K newsletter subscribers
50K YouTube subscribers
5 revenue streams active

Own physical space for interviews, classes & community
Repeatable investigation channel network
Print magazine — editorial compilation with 3D/AR via QR for smart glasses

700 members
20K newsletter subscribers
100K YouTube subscribers
4 revenue streams diversified

04

Founder

Tom Vaillant

Founder, Editor & Tool Builder

Visual journalist and technologist working on editorial innovation. I build AI-native tools that help journalists investigate data, archives, platforms, and public claims. I also report and publish data-driven stories using maps, charts, video and open methods. My work combines OSINT, video, cartography, graphics and AI to format complex stories for large audiences.

CUNY Newmark AI Journalism Lab — Builders Cohort
Pulitzer Center grantee
Innovation Fund for Multimedia Journalism grantee
Collaborating with Indicator.media, Bellingcat, Big Local News & MuckRock

Advisory

Kaveh Waddell

AI & Journalism

Co-founder of Verso. JSK/Stanford AI Fellow. Former data journalist at Axios and The Atlantic.

Jon Laurence

Creator Journalism

VP at Newpress. Peabody, Emmy & Murrow Award winner. Former EP at AJ+.

Lars Adrian Giske

AI & Editorial Tools

Head of AI at Polaris Media / iTromsø. Creator of Djinn, used by 38 Norwegian newspapers. Two-time Data Scoop Award winner.

Florent Daudens

Open-Source AI for News

CEO of Mizal AI. Previously Press Lead at Hugging Face, developing open-source AI for news. 15+ years in journalism at CBC/Radio-Canada and Le Devoir.

Ask vs Forecast

The raise is a runway bridge to prove a self-sustaining media-software-services flywheel.

CHF 100K

Current ask

Founder runway, Spotlight hardening, investigations, legal/company setup, operations and community.

Year 1

Runway bridge

Enough operating room to launch paid membership, close partner investigations, and productize Spotlight V2 with design partners.

~CHF 5.4K

2026 MRR target

Subscriptions, sponsorship, consulting/workshops and partnerships/grants. Target, not current traction.

~CHF 13.7K

2027 MRR target

A self-sustaining base before scaling the newsroom, the platform and the partner channel.

The Ask

CHF 100,000

for 7% equity · pre-money ~CHF 1.33M

Founder salary — 50%Runway to publish, sell, build and support pilots.

Content & investigations — 20%Cleared-style cases, visual packages and sources companions.

AI compute & infrastructure — 10%Spotlight V2 browsing, archiving, evaluation and model runs.

GmbH formation & legal — 10%Commercial vehicle, contracts and editorial/legal review support.

Operations, classes, community — 10%Newsletter, workshops, partner pipeline and memberships.

Includes CHF 20K GmbH share capital held as company working capital. Year-1 bridge to membership, paid collaborations and consulting revenue.

tom@buriedsignals.com

buriedsignals.com TikTok YouTube X

A media company with its own investigation engine.

The Gap

The Current Tool Ecosystem

Spotlight

Scoutpost

OSINT Navigator

Mycroft

What Already Exists

Cleared

OCCRP / Partner Work

Health Insider

Spotlight Platform

Give it a lead. It builds the investigation trace.

Spotlight Is the Operating Platform

Two Roles, One Platform

Citizens submit or check claims.

Reporters receive pre-framed leads.

From browser agent toinvestigation engine

Multi-hop investigation

US and Chinese model dependency.

A Swiss sovereign path.

Route Leads Through the Networks That Matter

Creator Journalism

The Cleared Model

Editorial & Research

Visuals & AI

Collaboration Model

Partner Publishers

Buried Signals

Investigation & Publishing Pipeline

Publishing Strategy

Open Investigations

Business Model

Business Flywheel

Revenue Sources

Newsletter Paywall

Membership

Pro Membership — $25-40/month

Tools Inside the Membership

Consulting

Strategy session

Workshop

Custom AI build

Full pilot

Revenue Forecast Targets

Roadmap

Team & Ask

Founder

Advisory

Ask vs Forecast