AI Counter-Disinformation Firm Refute Secures £5m in Seed Funding

London-based Refute has raised £5 million in seed funding to accelerate its mission of protecting organizations and democracies from the growing threats of hybrid warfare and disinformation. The round, announced on January 27, 2026, was led by deep tech specialist Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Playfair, Episode 1, Osney Capital, and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), the UK Government’s venture capital fund focused on dual-use technologies for national security and defense.

The company, which emerged from stealth mode in 2024, has developed military-grade AI capabilities that detect early signals of online manipulation campaigns and provide intelligence and response strategies at the same pace as attackers. Refute’s platform is already being utilized by commercial and government clients facing sophisticated disinformation threats.

Founded by executives with over forty years of combined experience in combating terrorist attacks, financial crime, and enhancing internet trust, Refute was established in response to the rapidly evolving landscape of information warfare. According to the company, threat actors are increasingly blending bot farms with human influencers and deploying autonomous AI systems for end-to-end disinformation operations, targeting both governmental and commercial entities.

“Europe is facing the most significant wave of hybrid warfare in modern history,” said Tom Garnett, CEO and Co-Founder of Refute. “Disinformation is no longer just a peripheral nuisance, but now a reputational threat and strategic weapon targeting nations, institutions and corporations alike.”

The company’s monitoring efforts have revealed alarming trends across various sectors. During recent European elections, including Romania’s, Refute identified more than 32,500 inauthentic TikTok videos artificially amplifying extremist candidates’ reach within expatriate communities. In the mining industry, the company found that 40% of the mines it tracks are under attack from fake or misleading actors seeking to infiltrate online conversations, undermine institutions, and erode public trust.

These coordinated disinformation campaigns create serious risks for business operations, corporate reputations, and market valuations, according to Refute’s analysis.

Vlad Galu, CTO and Co-Founder of Refute, highlighted how the velocity of disinformation attacks has surged as threat actors adopt more sophisticated technologies. “This funding enables us to grow our engineering organization, expand our detection models, and advance our response capabilities across European markets,” Galu said. “By accelerating innovation, we will increase our capacity to detect and neutralize emerging threats at exponentially growing scales.”

The investment comes at a critical time when disinformation is increasingly recognized as a national security concern. A spokesperson for the NSSIF noted: “We are pleased to support Refute, a UK company whose technology significantly strengthens our resilience against disinformation. Refute is developing advanced, dual-use capabilities that can help safeguard democratic processes and ensure our collective security.”

James Baker, Principal at Amadeus Capital Partners, who led both Refute’s pre-seed and current seed rounds, emphasized the strategic importance of the investment. “Disinformation is one of the fastest growing risks globally for governments and enterprises,” Baker said. “Tom and Vlad have demonstrated their ability to execute quickly and build a world leading set of capabilities which detects and responds to threats autonomously at the speed of the attackers.”

The funding will support Refute’s continued development of its AI-powered platform as it aims to become the dominant global provider of disinformation analytics and countermeasures in an increasingly contested information environment.