AI startup Contrails AI raises $1 million led by Huddle Ventures, IAN Group

Trust & Safety-tech startup Contrails AI has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Huddle Ventures and IAN Group to help internet platforms combat risks emerging from generative AI.

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Founded by Digvijay Singh, an AI researcher and product leader, and Amitabh Kumar, a global trust and safety practitioner, Contrails AI is building an AI-powered risk governance platform designed to safeguard digital ecosystems in an era increasingly dominated by machine-generated content.

The startup said it is addressing the growing threat of “AI slop,” an explosion of synthetic, manipulated, and malicious content online, which it warns could push the web toward a “dead internet,” where most content is counterfeit or harmful.

Contrails AI’s proprietary Forensics & Manipulation Detection AI offers real-time, multimodal analysis across video, image, audio, and text. The system enables review teams to proactively detect and mitigate threats such as misinformation, brand impersonation, deepfakes, and large-scale fraud.

“Trust & Safety is no longer a back-office concern; it has become a boardroom priority. At Contrails AI, we translate complex safety challenges into strategic advantages, spanning across policy, content moderation, and AI guardrailing. This allows us to build moderation and governance frameworks powered by AI, helping digital platforms scale while balancing automation and human oversight,” said co-founder Amitabh Kumar.

Co-founder Digvijay Singh added that the company is “on a mission to safeguard online spaces” amid the accelerating rise of GenAI-driven threats.

“Contrails AI is our answer, an enterprise-grade solution engineered to proactively safeguard the digital communities of today and tomorrow at scale,” he said.

The startup plans to use the fresh funding to accelerate pilot programs across the US and EU in sectors such as marketplaces, media, finance, and digital platforms.

Sanil Sachar, Partner at Huddle Ventures, said, “By rebuilding Trust & Safety on the internet, Contrails AI is solving one of the biggest challenges endured by today’s digital era. It is well-poised to build a product in an industry where the inflection point is arriving soon. The teams’ credibility within this space is crafted well to deliver a truly global solution. With a multimodal approach and founder-led vision, they are in a league of their own, and we wish the team the best in their ambitious endeavour.”

Ajai Chowdhry, Board Member at IAN Group and Co-founder of HCL, added, “The team at Contrails AI is tackling digital content risk with unmatched precision and enterprise-ready solutions, setting a benchmark for the industry.”