Ukrainian AI startup Osavul raises $1M seed from SMRK

Osavul, a Ukrainian software company focused on developing AI-powered solutions to protect states, businesses, and society from information threats, has just raised $1 million from the SMRK venture fund. The investment will be directed towards marketing and development of the technology platform and its international expansion, Osavul has informed AIN.Capital.

What is Osavul

Founded in March 2022 by Dmytro Pleshakov and Dmytro Bilash, Osavul develops products in the field of information and cybersecurity. In particular, the company focuses on the co-pilot approach, which allows for working with larger data sets, more efficiently finding and analyzing information, as well as finding and neutralizing threats. 

With the Osavul solution, security and communications professionals working with the public sector and the political sphere, business, non-profit organizations, security agencies, and the PR sphere can discover the necessary information, measure and find countermeasures if they pose a threat.

“Osavul arose as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The world faced a powerful wave of propaganda and narratives discrediting Ukrainians and their struggle. In recent years, we have seen the rapid development of AI due to the emergence of Large Language Models, such as ChatGPT. New technologies make it easier to create and distribute any kind of content – both textual and visual – thus increasing the risk of spreading misinformation. Therefore, state institutions and companies need new powerful technologies to more effectively counter threats related to disinformation,”

commented Dmytro Pleshakov, co-founder and CEO of Osavul.

The startup currently offers three products:

• CommSecure, a software platform for information environment assessment, identification, and analysis of narratives, as well as information threats in the media environment;
• CIB Guard, a module for analyzing coordinated inauthentic behavior between accounts in media, messengers, and social networks;
• InfoOps, is an integrated service, when the company both provides software and performs the tasks of analytics and countering disinformation. The dynamics of the spread of narratives, sources, and ways of their distribution are also monitored.

Osavul software was implemented and used by the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and by Ukrainian departments in the security and defense sector.

Details of the deal

The fresh round was led by SMRK, a Ukrainian venture fund that provides investments in the amount of $500,000 to $1.5 million mainly to Ukrainian startups that have positive economic, social, and environmental impact. Recently, it led investments for Ukrainians proptech Prengi and VR startup Aspichi. 

“Osavul is founded by an exceptional team with a deep understanding of AI technology from both engineering and business perspectives. We are honored to take part in their new endeavor,”

said Vlad Tislenko, partner at SMRK VC.

Osavul will spend the investment for the further development of its solutions, and integration of the Language Models technologies to take the analysis of the information environment to a new level. The company also plans to expand international markets and cooperate with foreign companies and government organizations.