Refute Secures £5M in Funding for AI Technology to Combat Disinformation Bots

Artificial intelligence startup Refute has secured £5 million in seed funding to combat the growing threat of online disinformation targeting governments, corporations, and electoral processes. The London-based company leverages advanced AI technology to detect disinformation campaigns in their early stages and provides actionable countermeasures.

The funding round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners, which had previously participated in Refute’s pre-seed round. Other investors include Playfair, Episode 1, Osney Capital, and notably, the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund, which was attracted by Refute’s expertise in defense technology.

Founded in 2024 by Tom Garnett and Vlad Galu, Refute emerged from the founders’ combined four decades of experience battling money laundering and online fraud. The company was created in response to their observation that disinformation tactics were increasingly targeting organizations beyond just political entities.

“We spent all our careers fighting criminal activity online and care deeply about elevating trust in the internet,” Garnett told Tech Funding News. “The decision to develop the technology behind Refute came after seeing firsthand that disinformation targeting organisations was the next big threat vector, especially for commercial companies.”

Refute’s platform has already demonstrated its effectiveness in real-world scenarios. In Romania’s recent elections, the company identified 32,500 suspicious TikTok videos spreading far-right messaging to expatriate voters. In the corporate sector, Refute detected targeted smear campaigns affecting 40% of monitored mining companies.

The company’s technology aggregates public data streams to track the propagation of false information, quickly identifying potential risks and offering customized response strategies. This comprehensive approach has already attracted high-profile government and private sector clients.

“Refute’s AI-powered platform helps organisations spot and stop online manipulation before it takes hold,” Garnett explained. “It picks up the early warning signs of disinformation campaigns, helps teams understand what’s really happening, and supports fast, practical responses.”

While competitors like Graphika and NewsGuard offer similar services in mapping disinformation narratives, Refute claims differentiation through its automated response capabilities, operational scale, and independent positioning. The company emphasizes its ability to provide actionable intelligence rather than just threat detection.

“What sets us apart is the speed at which we can detect and the ability of our platform to proactively respond to threats,” said Garnett. “We bring together signals from across the online landscape into one clear, actionable view, so decision-makers can act with confidence, not guesswork.”

The startup has adopted a remote-first work environment spanning multiple European countries, which Garnett believes strengthens their ability to combat disinformation. “With hybrid threats spreading across Europe right now, we have deliberately built a workforce spanning across Europe, rather than being confined to the UK, by bringing together people from different national backgrounds, cultures, and language expertise.”

This diversity is embodied in the company’s founding team, with Galu being Romanian and Garnett British. This multicultural perspective is particularly valuable as disinformation campaigns grow increasingly sophisticated and varied in their approaches.

The disinformation landscape has evolved significantly in recent years, with bad actors employing bot networks, paid influencers, and AI-generated content to manipulate public opinion and undermine trust. These tactics have proven effective in influencing elections, damaging corporate reputations, and sowing discord in civil society.

Refute plans to use the new funding to expand its engineering team, enhance its detection algorithms, develop more comprehensive response toolkits, and extend operations into additional European markets.

“Over the coming years, our key objective is to scale our operations by expanding our team and tapping into talent across new markets,” Garnett said. “We’re in a fast-changing space too, so ongoing and robust updates to how we can detect, and crucially, respond to threats quicker and more efficiently is another priority.”

As disinformation continues to pose significant challenges to democratic processes, market stability, and social cohesion, Refute’s technology represents an important development in the ongoing battle to preserve information integrity in the digital age.