As AI technology advances, misinformation continues to grow and businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable. A London-based startup called Refute is tackling this problem by identifying and thwarting misinformation aimed at businesses. Playfair Capital and Episode 1, two UK-based investors, are leading the company's recent pre-seed investment round, which raised £2.3 million ($2.9 million).
These disinformation efforts are driven by a number of variables, such as geopolitical tensions and the use of generative AI to create fake documents. These sophisticated operations frequently target executives, supply chains and organizations, causing significant financial and reputational damage.
Refute distinguishes itself from its competitors who primarily focus on detection thanks to its comprehensive strategy for identifying and combating disinformation. Finding “threat actors” and their actions is part of the company’s efforts to identify disinformation operations. The limitations of current social media and media monitoring technologies, primarily passive and intended for marketing purposes, explains Tom Garnett, co-founder and CEO of Refute in an interview with TechCrunch. As a result, they are useless for combating the complex and multifaceted nature of disinformation threats.
This strategy draws on Garnett's experience in national security, where he created large data analysis systems at Detica and BAE Systems. It has used comparable technologies to combat financial crime and cyberattacks in the corporate sector.
Vlad Galu, co-founder of Refute, knows the effects of disinformation firsthand because he grew up in Romania in an era of technological advancement and regulatory ambiguity. Initially, he worked to develop core internet infrastructure in Romania and the CEE countries, which required strong defenses against a range of threats.
Other investors in this round included angel investors Charlie Songhurst, Carlos Espinal, James Chappell and Alastair Paterson, in addition to Notion Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners.
According to Andrew Sheffield of Playfair Capital, the information landscape is changing, making it harder to distinguish fact from fiction and making it less costly to spread misinformation. He highlighted Garnett and Galu's expertise in data analysis, cybersecurity and handling difficult security issues.
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