A Ukrainian startup forged by war is bringing counter-disinformation to the business world.
Osavul was founded in 2022 to fight Russian propaganda. To analyse the threats, the company applied AI analytics to the information landscape.
The startup surveys open-source data from social media, websites, and messaging apps. It then identifies harmful narratives — and the sources spreading them.
The narratives have diverse forms. Osavul has detected fake news videos plastered with BBC logos, racial slurs hidden by slang, and generative AI amplifying Russian propaganda.
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Ukraine’s government has frequently sought the startup’s insights. So have NATO and the UK. But Osavul is also seeking private sector clients.
Business disinformation
Osavul is currently developing services specifically for businesses, which are increasingly bombarded with false information.
Russian politicians have accused Coca-Cola of buying organs harvested from Ukrainian orphans. Social media posts have spread fake reports of banks restricting withdrawals. Viral TikTok videos have claimed Disney World is lobbying to lower the legal drinking age.
Such attacks can damage reputations and disrupt operations. They can also cause immense financial losses.
Analyst firm Gartner expects the costs to skyrocket. By 2028, the company predicts that enterprises will spend over $500bn on fighting misinformation — cannibalising half their marketing and cybersecurity budgets.
Osavul aims to mitigate the risks. “Our goal is to review the narratives, show which of them are dangerous, and then give you all the intelligence to understand what you can do,” Dmytro Bilash, the startup’s co-founder, told TNW.
Clients can then develop a response plan. That could mean a counter-messaging campaign, a complaint to social media platforms, or even litigation.
Osavul’s ambitions have been bolstered by a new $3mn funding round. Announced today, the seed investment will support the expansion into the B2B segment.
The round was led by three European investors: 42CAP, u.ventures, and SMRK.
“Osavul is already the industry-leading startup in the EU in its sector,” said Alex Meyer, general partner at 42CAP.
“It is driven to scale its opportunities to the US market and offer new opportunities for the business sector.”
Bilash believes the market will rapidly expand. As AI reduces the costs of disinformation campaigns, he expects a surge in attacks on businesses.
“Hundreds of thousands of companies all over the world will need to have a situational awareness technology,” he said.