AI Against Online Hate: Startup TrollWall AI Secures €800,000 Investment
Bratislava, April 9, 2026 – Slovak startup TrollWall AI, which uses artificial intelligence to protect organizations and brands from hateful and toxic content on social media, has secured an investment of €800,000. The investment comes from Seed Starter of Slovenská sporiteľňa, Slovak Investment Holding (SIH), and angel investor Miroslav Fedor. The funding will support TrollWall AI’s expansion into new markets and further development of its technology, which is currently used by clients in more than ten countries.
“We invest in startups that solve real problems and have the potential to scale. TrollWall AI meets both of these criteria perfectly—it helps manage toxic online content, which virtually all brands and institutions communicating online face today. And it does so in a way that is applicable across countries and cultures,” says Michal Vanovčan, Executive Manager of Seed Starter at Slovenská sporiteľňa.
“At Slovak Investment Holding, we support innovative solutions that not only have strong market potential but also address real societal challenges. TrollWall AI is an example of a technology that sits at the intersection of both—it responds to the growing problem of toxic communication in the online space while offering a scalable solution with international reach. From an investment perspective, we see long-term growth and demand in this segment, which will only strengthen with the digitalization of society. We believe that, thanks to this investment, TrollWall AI can further strengthen its position in the global market and contribute to shaping a healthier digital environment,” says Juraj Jusko, Director of Direct Investments at Slovak Investment Holding.
The SIH investment is financed from the Slovak Recovery and Resilience Plan, Component 9 – Support for Research, Development, and Innovation.
The idea behind TrollWall AI emerged during the first months of the war in Ukraine. At the time, Tomáš Halász was working as a social media manager and helping the organization “Kto pomôže Ukrajine,” which was facing a massive wave of hateful and disinformation comments.
“Manually deleting comments was extremely exhausting—both time-wise and mentally—and practically unmanageable. When I looked for a tool that could moderate hateful content in Slovak, I found that nothing like it existed. So we decided to build one,” recalls Tomáš Halász, co-founder and CEO of TrollWall AI.
Together with a team of experienced IT specialists—who later became co-founders—the startup began developing its own AI model for moderating hateful content. What originally started as an internal tool quickly proved to be a solution needed by companies, public institutions, and non-profit organizations. Thanks to rapid initial product validation and strong scaling potential, the company secured a pre-seed investment in 2023 from the impact fund CB ESPRI.
Local Context as a Competitive Advantage
One of the main differences compared to global solutions is TrollWall AI’s focus on local language and cultural context. The startup currently trains its own AI models separately for each language and country, collaborating with local linguistic experts.
“Hate speech always has a cultural and geographical context. What is offensive in the Czech Republic may not make sense in Slovakia or Spain. That’s why we now have multiple versions of the same language and models that better understand the reality of each specific country,” explains Halász.
TrollWall AI’s solution now supports more than 12 languages and is used primarily by clients in Europe, although the startup has already established its first partnerships in the Americas. Its clients include public institutions, political figures, sports clubs, and major brands that face intense daily online communication.
At the same time, TrollWall AI has evolved from simple moderation into a broader tool for managing online discussions. In addition to removing toxic content, it now offers conversation analytics, engagement support, and assistance with responses—always with an emphasis on human oversight.
“We don’t want autonomous AI that makes decisions on its own. Our goal is to help people manage communication better, respond faster, and protect their brand. However, the final decision must remain with humans,” Halász emphasizes.
From Startup Bootcamp to Investment
One of the early milestones that helped TrollWall AI move forward significantly was participation in the Startup Bootcamp organized by Seed Starter. There, the team received intensive feedback from industry experts, helping them clarify strategic priorities, data practices, and the company’s direction.
“This bootcamp helped us identify dead ends we had reached as a startup and avoid further mistakes. The feedback was very direct—but exactly what you need at that stage,” recalls Halász.
This experience was followed by participation in Startup Awards Slovakia, where TrollWall AI reached the finals in 2024 and won in the Company category. The program included a training bootcamp and a trip to Silicon Valley, giving the team insights into how global tech companies operate, approach expansion, and scale their businesses.
According to investors, the combination of a strong and useful product, the ability to learn, and active use of available support programs are key reasons why TrollWall AI has grown from a local solution into an international startup.
“TrollWall AI has a product and a team that addresses a very specific and growing problem. That’s why I’m joining the company as an active investor—not only to provide capital, but also to support strategic decision-making, scaling, and process setup. I want to be a sparring partner for the founders in their continued growth and long-term company building,” confirms angel investor Miroslav Fedor from Hernwood.
About TrollWall AI
TrollWall AI is a Slovak technology startup that uses artificial intelligence to help organizations and brands protect their online communication from hateful and toxic content. Its solution enables automated comment moderation, discussion analysis, and engagement support, with a strong focus on local language and cultural context. TrollWall AI currently operates in more than ten countries, supports over 12 languages, and its clients include media outlets, public institutions, non-profit organizations, and companies.
About Seed Starter of Slovenská sporiteľňa
The corporate venture capital program Seed Starter looks for business plans with a strong vision and customer value. The program offers not only investment but also professional incubation, content support, and access to a broad network of partners and customers, helping startups enter real markets. Seed Starter focuses on startups that can ideally create synergy with financial institutions. Some promising startups may later offer their products through the extensive distribution network of the Erste Group. Seed Starter has already invested in eight startups: Blockmate, SmartHead, Vestberry, Eatster, Resitech, IntellCRE, Pointee, and TrollWall AI, and is working on pilot projects with additional startups.
About Slovak Investment Holding (SIH)
SIH is a joint-stock company fully owned by the state. Its main mission is to support strategic public and private investments in Slovakia in areas such as competitiveness and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure, energy efficiency, waste management, social economy, and the cultural and creative industries. SIH primarily draws funding from EU funds and finances projects exclusively through repayable forms, i.e., financial instruments rather than grants.
