The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2020–2026
Checkstep bets DSA/OSA make AI content moderation a must-buy; 60M items monthly
London startup sells AI trust & safety to UGC platforms; $5M seed as DSA took shape, £3M in 2026, 60M+ items moderated monthly for Trustpilot and others.
Checkstep
What the business is
Checkstep sells AI-powered content moderation and trust & safety as a service: automated policy enforcement on user-generated content (hate, spam, CSAM, bullying, copyright), human review for edge cases, and audit trails for regulations like the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act.
Starting capital：US$5M seed co-led by Dawn Capital and Form Ventures (May 2022); £3M growth round led by Alea Capital Partners (April 2026).
How it started
Founded in London in 2020 by Guillaume Bouchard (ex-Bloomsbury AI) and Jonathan Manfield to fight Covid misinformation, Checkstep expanded to hate speech, CSAM, bullying and copyright, and raised a $5M seed in May 2022 as EU and UK online-content rules were being finalized.
What happened
Customers grew to Trustpilot, JustGiving, Daily Mail and MoneySavingExpert, and the platform now processes 60M+ content items a month with 98%+ of decisions automated and auditable. The EU DSA became fully applicable on Feb 17, 2024 and UK Ofcom codes followed, pushing UGC platforms toward compliance-grade moderation with transparency reporting and risk assessments. In April 2026 Checkstep raised £3M led by Alea Capital Partners with Slow Ventures and LookAI to scale its trust & safety infrastructure internationally.
How it ended up
Scaling: capital-efficient growth with strong net revenue retention and rising enterprise demand, expanding across the EU and US as regulators enforce online-content duties.
Background
Checkstep is a London-based startup selling AI content moderation and trust & safety as a service: automated policy enforcement on user-generated content, human review for edge cases, and audit trails built for regulations such as the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act. The bet was that these rules would turn moderation from an optional safety measure into a legal duty for every platform hosting user content — and that mid-size platforms would buy the capability rather than build it.
Founded in 2020 by Guillaume Bouchard and Jonathan Manfield to fight Covid misinformation, Checkstep expanded into hate speech, CSAM, bullying and copyright management, and raised a $5M seed in May 2022 co-led by Dawn Capital and Form Ventures. tech.eu framed the raise around 'new regulations being enacted around the globe', with investor commentary pointing at the UK's Online Safety Bill.
The platform now processes 60M+ pieces of content monthly, automates 98%+ of moderation decisions while keeping them auditable, and counts Trustpilot, JustGiving, Daily Mail and MoneySavingExpert among its customers. After the DSA became fully applicable in February 2024 and UK enforcement codes followed, Checkstep raised £3M in April 2026 led by Alea Capital Partners with Slow Ventures and LookAI to scale trust & safety infrastructure internationally.
What has to be true
- The regulatory opening is dated and concrete: EU DSA full application on Feb 17, 2024 and UK Online Safety Act codes after it created recurring moderation and transparency duties for UGC platforms.
- Traction is specific: $5M seed (May 2022), £3M round (April 2026), 60M+ items moderated monthly, 98%+ automation, named customers including Trustpilot and Daily Mail.
- The wedge is clear: platforms that cannot staff trust & safety teams get compliance-grade automation with audit trails instead of building Meta-scale operations.
- It shows the regulatory-openings pattern where enforcement deadlines turn a cost center into a subscription product.
What can be applied
When regulation shifts liability onto every platform, a safety feature becomes infrastructure: sell compliance-grade automation with audit trails, and the legal deadline does the selling for you.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02 Checkstep is scaling: the April 2026 £3M round led by Alea Capital Partners (with Slow Ventures and LookAI) funds product development, commercial expansion and international scaling across the EU and US. The platform processes 60M+ content items monthly with 98%+ of decisions automated and auditable, counting Trustpilot, JustGiving, Daily Mail and MoneySavingExpert as customers; investors cite strong net revenue retention and growing enterprise demand as EU and US regulation makes trust & safety core platform infrastructure.
Sources
- Regulating online content lands $5 million at Checkstep's doors
- Checkstep secures £3m from Alea Capital Partners to provide automated content moderation for online platforms
- Checkstep Raises £3M in Funding
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