Checkstep secures £277k for AI-powered content moderation platform

Guillaume Bouchard and Jonathan Manfield have raised an estimated £277k for their London-based startup, Checkstep Limited. The company develops AI software designed to help online platforms detect harmful content and maintain regulatory compliance.

Founded in 2020, Checkstep provides automated moderation tools for enterprises across the gaming, streaming, dating, and social media sectors. The technology allows these platforms to enforce safety policies at scale by combining machine learning with human oversight. Bouchard previously served as Facebook’s AI Integrity Manager in London after selling his first business, Bloomsbury AI, to the social media giant in 2018. Co-founder Jonathan Manfield formerly held a software engineering lead role at JP Morgan.

This latest capital injection of £277k follows a series of smaller funding rounds over the past 18 months. In February, the company recorded two separate allotments of £377k and £10k. During 2025, Checkstep raised £111.6k in August, £206.8k in May, and £597.7k in February. These figures are lower than the company’s largest historical round of £3.6m, which was closed in April 2022. Other previous funding includes £144.5k in June 2022 and several smaller amounts raised throughout 2021.

Financial filings for the year ended 31 December 2024 list a headcount of six employees, although the company’s LinkedIn profile indicates a larger team of 32 staff members. Checkstep is headquartered in London and focuses on technical specialties including trust and safety, policy enforcement, and machine learning.

The company has previously attracted backing from several prominent technology figures. These include Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer, Moonfruit co-founder Joe White MBE, and William Tunstall-Pedoe, the founder of Evi, which was later acquired to become Amazon Alexa. Diana Hu, who leads the AR platform at Niantic, is also a known shareholder.

The documentation for this latest round was filed in May, following an allotment of shares in April.