UK tech firm TruthEngine bags Series A funding to tackle fake, misleading and suspicious online reviews
Online review verification company, TruthEngine, reports an undisclosed (said to be seven figures) Series A investment round.
This was led by automotive and technology entrepreneur Tom Wood, alongside a syndicate of industry veterans, technology leaders and legal experts including Nick Hynes, former Air Miles, Yahoo!, SearchWorks and Somo executive, Andrew Thornton KC, international company law barrister and serial technology entrepreneur, Julian Persaud, former Managing Director at Google South East Asia and senior Airbnb executive, and Graham Hann, partner at international law firm Winston Taylor.
The investment will be used to advance the company’s AI, forensic analysis and review authentication capabilities, expand its product offering, and grow its presence across sectors including financial services, telecoms and consumer marketplaces.
Daniel Mohacek, CEO at TruthEngine, comments: “Trust in online reviews has been eroding for many years, and regulation is now catching up with this reality. Businesses can no longer assume that review platforms alone can protect them from risk or liability. Reviews have become critical to modern businesses. They influence customer buying decisions, underpin brand equity and can make or break public confidence in companies."
“When review manipulation occurs at store, branch or franchise level, the risk does not stay local. It can quickly spiral into a major regulatory issue, which is why businesses need independent visibility across their entire review footprint. That visibility is becoming even more important now enforcement is moving up the agenda. Regulatory exposure is very real, and leadership teams are beginning to recognise that, under the DMCC Act, responsibility for the authenticity of reviews sits with them, not just the review platforms."
“The CMA can impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover for companies caught breaching the rules, so the cost of non-compliance can be enormous. We built TruthEngine to provide the independent verification the market has been missing, giving companies, regulators and consumers greater reassurance in what they are seeing online. This funding allows us to scale our platform and support the growing number of organisations taking a proactive, evidence-based approach to review compliance and consumer trust.”
Tom Wood, Lead Investor, comments: “TruthEngine is tackling a problem that is becoming increasingly important for both businesses and consumers. Online reviews influence hundreds of billions of pounds of consumer spending, and review manipulation is now illegal in more than 30 markets worldwide. What impressed us was not just the scale of the problem, but the strength of the technology and the timing of the opportunity. Regulation, AI generated content and declining consumer trust are fundamentally reshaping how online reputation works."
“TruthEngine has spent years building proprietary technology and expertise in an area most businesses are only just beginning to understand. We believe the company is exceptionally well positioned to become a major player in the global trust and compliance ecosystem and I’m excited to support Daniel and the wider team through the next phase of growth.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
