Cyabra, a Tel Aviv-based startup that helps private and non-private organizations detect and struggle mis- and disinformation campaigns by discovering faux accounts on social media, on Tuesday introduced that it plans to merge with particular objective acquisition firm (SPAC) Trailblazer Merger Company I and listing on the NASDAQ.
Based in 2018, a few of Cyabra’s traders embrace the likes of OurCrowd, which led the corporate’s $5.6 million Collection A, in addition to Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Harpoon Ventures, Alabaster, Confederate, Pink Shepherd Ventures, Summus Z, TAU Ventures and Capital Y Administration.
The transaction values Cyabra at $70 million, and the corporate expects the merger to shut by the top of the yr.
SPACs, which have been all the fashion just a few years in the past, have turn out to be fairly uncommon. As of late, if you hear about them, it’s largely as a result of firms that went public through a SPAC went out of enterprise. The SEC not too long ago adopted new guidelines that may quickly flip the method into one thing that’s extra akin to a conventional IPO. Nonetheless, although, there are clearly some startups left that need to make this course of work for them.
Cyabra says that during the last 12 months, it labored with 19 governments to assist them shield their elections.
A few of its company purchasers embrace Warner Media, and Warner is an efficient instance for the way Cyabra is used. For the discharge of “Surprise Lady 1984” in 2020, Warner used Cyabra to determine faux profiles that talked in regards to the film on social media — and which represented a risk to its model popularity. Armed with that information, it may then report these profiles and get them eliminated. On the similar time, this course of additionally allowed the corporate to determine actual influencers and focus its efforts on them.
Elon Musk additionally labored with Cyabra to analyze bot exercise earlier than his Twitter acquisition.
“Our proprietary know-how developed by senior veterans from the Israeli particular operations command (SOCOM), permits us to make use of refined algorithms and superior knowledge analytics to find out when automated bots are getting used to unfold lies throughout social media platforms,” mentioned Cyabra CEO and co-founder Dan Brahmy. “We have now company prospects and governments worldwide utilizing our product right now to determine when an assault is happening, offering them with the knowledge wanted to mitigate and even forestall any harm and shield their residents and types from the more and more refined unfold of disinformation.”
Earlier this yr, former CIA director and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the corporate’s board. “Cyabra is an important accomplice within the struggle in opposition to disinformation,” Pompeo mentioned in an announcement. “Their capabilities in uncovering inauthentic accounts, false narratives, and manipulated AI content material are very important for shielding democracy and safeguarding nationwide safety. Cyabra’s dedication to those objectives makes them a necessary ally in our efforts to defend in opposition to threats to our nation.”
