Tuesday, January 30, 2018

New Knowledge Uncovers $1.9M To Fight Propaganda, Disinformation Online

Austin-based NewKnowledge, a cybersecurity startup which says it is using artificial intelligence to detect propaganda, social media manipulation, and online disinformation campaigns, ahs raised $1.9M in a seed funding round. The funding was led by Moonshots Capital, and also included Haystack, GGV Capital, Geekdom Fund, Capital Factory and Spitfire Ventures. New Knowledge says its platform detects propaganda campaigns in real time, and is able to identify fake accounts and bots which are trying to manipulate other online users. New Knowledge says its tools were used to identify fake accounts that were part of the large-scale Russian effort to influence U.S. presidential elections. New Knowledge is led by CEO and co-founder Jonathan Morgan, formerly a State Department counterterrorism advisor, and also was co-founded by Ryan Fox (formerly, NSA, military intelligence) and Sandeep Verma (Halliburton, BP). Moonshots Capital' Kelly Perdew joins the company's board with the funding.