L1ght Raises $15 Million to Fight Toxicity Online

L1ght, which uses artificial intelligence technology to flag hateful or abusive information online, announced today that it has secured $15 million in seed funding. The round was led jointly by Tribeca Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners, with additional funding provided by Western Technology Investment.

Previously known as AntiToxin Technologies, L1ght will use the funding for product R&D and distribution to popular online platforms. Because context and timeliness are critical, L1ght will focus on its algorithms’ ability to detect malicious speech in real-time.

“This new funding will help L1ght ensure online spaces are safe for kids,” co-founder and CEO Zohar Levkovitz said. “On social media sites, chat apps, and gaming platforms, it’s obvious that not enough is being done to protect young people from harmful content. My co-founder Ron Porat and I started L1ght because we wanted to change that.”

L1ght’s investors see applications for the tool across forums, social networking sites, chatrooms, video and audio platforms, and more. Spaces free of hate speech and predatory behavior are more attractive to many users, particularly minors and their parents. L1ght’s technology can detect toxic content in images, audio, videos, and text online.

“Protecting children online is the sort of mission that Tribeca Venture Partners is thrilled to be a part of,” said Chip Meakem, Tribeca Venture Partners managing partner. “We’re confident that Zohar and his company, L1ght, are positioned to take on this problem in a scalable, cost-effective way.”

Nathanial August, Mangrove Capital Partners’ president, and portfolio manager suggested that Zohar and L1ght fit squarely into its mission of encouraging innovators to develop disruptive, world-changing tech companies. “L1ght embodies our approach of contrarian investing,” August said. “Many entrepreneurs see online toxicity as something of an intractable problem, but we’re proud to support L1ght’s promising solution.”

About L1ght
L1ght was founded in late 2018 by serial entrepreneurs Zohar Levkovitz and Ron Porat to identify and eradicate cyberbullying, harmful content, hate speech, and predatory behavior. The company’s algorithms were developed with input from data scientists, sociologists, child safety experts, and psychologists. L1ght is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

About Tribeca Venture Partners
Tribeca Venture Partners is a venture capital group that invests in companies with ambitious, driven founders. Based in New York City, Tribeca Venture Partners specializes in early-stage and seed funding.

About Mangrove Capital Partners
Mangrove Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based venture capital firm that focuses on bold, transformational investments. Having recently invested in entertainment platform Sybel and customer experience startup Lightico, Mangrove Capital Partners makes investments at many different stages of a company’s lifecycle.

 

 

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