Faith Capital Closes Seed Round Investment in Fakespot

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ArabNet Team
Oct 23 2018
Investment
Faith Capital Closes Seed Round Investment in Fakespot
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Faith Capital announced today their recent participation in the $1.3M seed round of Fakespot, a Kuwaiti-founded and New York-based Artificial Intelligence startup that specializes in the protection of online shoppers by authenticating product reviews. This reflects Faith Capital’s continued efforts to back MENA technology founders with multinational ambitions.

Founded in 2016, Fakespot has developed a proprietary artificial intelligence platform to analyze and authenticate online product reviews on Amazon, Yelp, Trip Advisor, and the Apple App Store.

Using their technology, consumers no longer have to fear losses associated with purchasing goods and services marketed with deceptive fake reviews. Fakespot’s B2C services are available for free via iOS and Android Apps, as well as a browser extension. Additionally, the company offers B2B authentication solutions.

“Online reviews play a critical role in ecommerce by giving products and service a seal of approval from other consumers. Gaming the review systems of ecommerce platforms has become a prevalent practice for both known and unknown companies,” says Saoud Khalifah, the Founder, CEO and CTO of Fakespot.

“It is not uncommon for online shoppers to be misled by what otherwise looks like a high-quality item on a reputable ecommerce site. Fakespot is dedicated to protecting consumers from online deception on an increasing number of international ecommerce and service review platforms.” said Rob Gross, COO of Fakespot.

He added, “Fakespot’s mission is to make the internet more trustworthy, starting with consumer reviews. Our platform produces authentic data that benefits both consumers and business by detecting true consumer sentiment, counterfeits and defective products.”

“As a Kuwaiti Venture Capital firm, it is important to us that we back not only technology companies in the MENA region, but MENA founders who have the opportunity and ability to create a product of value with immediate international relevance,” says Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, the Managing Partner of Faith Capital. “We look forward to aiding Fakespot in their efforts to build an international service.”

“Some of the greatest startups are those that can create truly indispensable products that establish market dominance via technical advantage,” says Abdulaziz Hayat, an Associate at Faith Capital. “We are proud to support the first generation of MENA entrepreneurs capable of such an accomplishment.”