Oxford capital eis fund
Investor Portal

Oxford Capital Co-Leads $1 million Investment in Egregious to Combat AI-Driven Superhuman Deception

Oxford Capital Co-Leads $1 million Investment in Egregious to Combat AI-Driven Superhuman Deception 

Leading UK venture capital funds Oxford Capital and Fuel Ventures, have co-led a $1 million Pre-Seed funding round in Egregious, a pioneering company developing advanced technologies to defend humans from AI misuse. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Risks Report placed disinformation as the #1 global risk for the second consecutive year, alongside cyber espionage and societal polarisation. This investment marks a significant milestone in Egregious’ mission to safeguard organisations from AI-driven deception, disinformation and harmful content.  

Oxford Capital, an early investor in Moneybox, has co-led a $1 million Pre-Seed funding round with Fuel Ventures in Egregious, an analysis platform which protects the internet from superhuman AI deception, misinformation, disinformation and polarisation. 

Egregious is at the forefront of Human AI, on a mission to defend humans from the misuse of AI by delivering transformative solutions across critical sectors. 

These include  

  • National Security and Defence: providing private and secure Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) 
  • Finance & Corporate Security: safeguarding enterprises from personnel risk, market manipulation, and AI-driven scams 
  • Marketing & Communications: driving AI-powered multi-platform social media marketing strategies 
  • Cybersecurity: detecting and mitigating open-source intelligence (OSINT) risks 
  • Insurance: Enabling insurers to identify and assess global security threats through AI-driven social media intelligence. 

This funding will accelerate Egregious’ product development and scale its cutting-edge Human AI platform. With the backing of Oxford Capital, Fuel Ventures, and a network of strategic investors, Egregious is well-positioned to transform behavioural analysis and digital risk management. This investment underscores the growing importance of Human AI solutions in an increasingly interconnected world. 

Rupert Small, PhD, CEO and Founder of Egregious, commented: 

“AI-powered bots and agents are a powerful tool but they also pose a growing threat. These AI agents give people superhuman powers to shape narratives, manipulate systems, and undermine trust at scale. At Egregious, we’re building a defense line for humanity. With Oxford Capital and Fuel Ventures behind us, we’re ready to face these global challenges head-on and redefine how we combat AI-driven deception.” 

Chris Payne, Investor at Oxford Capital, said:  

“At Oxford Capital, we invested in Egregious because we see their work as a pivotal component of the rapidly evolving AI landscape. The opportunity for AI content is vast, and so too is the inherent risk from its ability to influence at scale. Egregious stands out by creating intelligence tools to detect and counter the misuse of AI, guarding against deception, protecting values and trust. We’re excited to back Rupert and his team as they build critical infrastructure for the AI-driven future.” 

ENDS 

About Egregious 

Egregious is an advanced analysis platform which has developed AI-ready Social Media Intelligence tools and Narrative Intelligence solutions to detect and counter the misuse of AI against humans. At the forefront of Human AI, Egregious is on a mission to help organisations across critical sectors such as the public sector & NGO, finance & corporate security, media, communications and marketing, to counter AI-powered deception, disinformation, misinformation and polarisation. 

About Oxford Capital  

Oxford Capital is a specialist investment manager focused on high-potential investments in early and growth stage UK technology companies. With over 25 years of experience, we invest in sectors such as digital health, fintech, and artificial intelligence and have a strong focus on delivering value to our investors. We have invested more than £500m across more than 100 EIS-qualifying companies.  

About the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the UK Venture Capital sector: The Enterprise Investment Scheme was established in 1994 to encourage investment into small companies with the potential for high growth. The scheme has helped over 56,000 UK companies raise £32 billion. It is an important factor making the UK’s startup ecosystem the most vibrant in Europe. The UK has more unicorn companies than any of its EU partners – more than France and Germany combined. The UK is the third largest venture capital market in the world after the USA and China. 

Estimated reading time: 2 min

 

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  1. You could lose all the money you invest
    1. If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
  2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
    1. Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
    2. Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
  3. You won’t get your money back quickly
    1. Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
    2. The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
    3. If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
  4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
    1. Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
    2. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest
  5. The value of your investment can be reduced
    1. The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
    2. These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

 

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.