Social Links raises €2.6 million to enhance AI tools that detect fraud, scam messages and brand misinformation

Amstelveen-based Social Links, a global technology company, has secured €2.6 million ($3 million) in additional follow-on funding to accelerate the development of next-generation defense tools designed to secure companies’ brand, assets, and people in the AI era.

This latest investment is led by Yellow Rocks!, who have increased their total investments  sixfold since their earliest capital injection. Previous investors include AltaIR Capital and Smart Partnership Capital.

Ivan Shkvarun, CEO of Social Links, explains: “The misuse of AI by the criminal sector created complex risks that outpace the capabilities of existing protection methods. Our responsibility is to provide clarity and actionable insight, turning fragmented and overwhelming data into effective defence. This is essential for securing trust in an AI-driven world. We deeply care about our investors and customers, and it is important for us to develop and grow together.”

This follow-on investment in Social Links sits within a wider set of 2025 European funding rounds focused on AI-driven defence, OSINT and digital-risk technologies.

Comparable activity includes Luxembourg’s Tadaweb securing €17.3 million to scale its Small-Data OSINT platform; London-based Egregious raising €936k to counter AI-enabled misuse; Switzerland’s Reshape Systems collecting €856k for trustworthy AI-driven risk-analysis; Madrid’s Acoru obtaining €10 million for AI-driven fraud and AML prevention; and Sofia-based WiseBee adding €2.1 million to advance autonomous cyber-defence.

On top of these rounds, recent research cites that losses linked to AI-enabled fraud (notably deepfakes) in Europe have surpassed €1.3 billion, with €860 million stolen in 2025 alone. This context underscores the pressing nature of the threat and the rationale for investor interest in this space.

The aggregated funding in the thematic cluster of these five startups (~€31 million) plus the new raise of Social Links indicates sustained capital deployment in the European ecosystem for tools tackling AI-enabled digital risk.

“AI has given criminals superpowers, while most protection tools are still stuck in the pre-AI era. Social Links is one of the very few companies that can realistically close this gap. They combine more than a decade of OSINT and digital investigations experience with a new generation of AI agents that actually understand how modern fraud, disinformation and abuse work in the real world,” shares Sergei Bogdanov PhD, Yellow Rocks! managing partner.

Founded in 2015 by by Andrey Kulikov and Ivan Shkvarun, Social Links offers deep, comprehensive data intelligence that empowers organisations to detect and mitigate AI-enabled fraud and crime across social media, messaging services, and digital platforms.

Unlike traditional cybersecurity, the company outlines that their approach anticipates emerging attack surfaces shaped by AI’s evolving capabilities. 

Social Link’s transformed a decade of experience in Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and digital investigations into AI agents that will fight AI-driven crime and work together as an autopilot system.

According to data provided by the company, Social Links has demonstrated an average growth rate of 80% YoY for the last six years and plans to accelerate this growth further with the introduction of new products.

Social Links currently serves over 450 customers across more than 90 countries globally, including 170 government entities and 280 business customers. Key markets include approximately 70% from EMEA and the US, with 30% from APAC and LATAM regions.

“Our follow-on investment is a deliberate move to increase our stake in a category leader we know well. We believe Social Links is uniquely positioned to define the global standard for AI-driven digital risk protection in the coming years,” adds Bogdanov.

The funds will be primarily used to advance Social Links’ flagship AI initiative: the solution was developed under the AI Defender Autopilot concept, to tackle emerging AI digital risk protection challenges – like detecting fraud and scam messages in employees’ emails and messaging platforms or detecting misinformation and fake news about a brand.

The post Social Links raises €2.6 million to enhance AI tools that detect fraud, scam messages and brand misinformation appeared first on EU-Startups.