As disinformation attacks continue to rise, fueled by geopolitical instability and the increasing use of generative AI to create misleading content, businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to their effects. To combat this growing threat, London-based startup Refute has raised £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in a pre-seed round led by UK investors Playfair and Episode 1.

The startup, founded by Tom Garnett and Vlad Galu, detects and responds to disinformation on behalf of commercial entities, providing a comprehensive solution to a problem that can have massive reputational and financial impacts. According to Garnett, existing customers often rely on social and media monitoring tools to try and understand the disinformation threat, but these tools are passive and designed for marketing purposes, providing misleading signals and obscuring the narrative provenance.

Refute's solution stands out in the market, as it provides both detection and response capabilities, setting it apart from competitors such as Alethea, Blackbird AI, and Logically AI, which primarily focus on detection. The startup's approach involves detecting the "threat actor" behaviors of an adversary to identify disinformation campaigns.

Garnett's background in national security, where he built large-scale data analysis solutions to investigate criminal activity, including terrorist attacks, has informed Refute's approach. His co-founder, Vlad Galu, grew up in Romania during the 1980s and 1990s, where he experienced the threat of disinformation firsthand, and went on to build core internet infrastructure and services in the region, implementing layered defense strategies against threats targeting both platforms and end-users.

The pre-seed round also saw participation from Notion Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners, as well as angel investment from investors Charlie Songhurst, Carlos Espinal, James Chappell, and Alastair Paterson. Andrew Sheffield, Principal at Playfair Capital, praised the founders' combined 40-plus years of experience in data analysis, cybersecurity, tackling terrorist attacks, identity management, and money laundering, stating that "the information landscape is changing, and it is harder than ever to tell fact from fiction."

As the threat of disinformation continues to evolve, Refute's solution is well-positioned to help businesses protect themselves from the reputational and financial impacts of these attacks. With this funding round, the startup is poised to further develop its technology and expand its reach, providing a critical service to companies in an increasingly complex information landscape.

The rise of disinformation attacks on businesses highlights the need for innovative solutions that can detect and respond to these threats. Refute's approach, combining detection and response capabilities, offers a promising solution to this growing problem. As the startup continues to grow and develop, it will be interesting to see how its technology evolves to meet the changing landscape of disinformation attacks.