Meedan
Meedan is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered verification and engagement tools—Check (multi-language fact-checking) and Suwali (archive-grounded chatbot)—for newsrooms and civil society organizations combating misinformation across 57 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Meedan does
Meedan is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit technology organization founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco that builds digital tools for journalists, newsrooms, and civil society organizations to combat misinformation, verify content, and facilitate community engagement. Its core products include Check, a multi-language verification and fact-checking platform that recorded 143,631 unique users in 2025 with tiplines supporting 34 languages and dialects, and Suwali, an AI-powered chatbot that transforms organizational archives into searchable, interactive knowledge bases while drawing responses exclusively from verified data to prevent AI hallucinations. Underlying capabilities include proprietary machine-learning classifiers for linguistically diverse content (Swahili, Levantine Arabic, African French), synthetic media and generative-AI content verification tools, and ML for detecting tech-facilitated gender-based violence. The platform operates across 57 countries through partner organizations and is published in open-source form on GitHub.
The organization runs a nonprofit revenue model funded primarily through philanthropic grants and donations rather than commercial pricing. Recent grants include $500,000 from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (December 2023), $2 million via the Skoll Foundation's 2024 Skoll Award for Social Innovation, $1 million from Press Forward (July 2025), and a prior $255,997 NSF grant (July 2021), supplemented by individual donations via donorbox.org. Meedan's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: tools are distributed via self-serve web access (Check, suwali.io), open-source availability on GitHub, and pilot partnerships with newsrooms and civil society organizations including Al Manassa in Egypt (800,000 monthly visitors) and The Quint in India, with major product announcements staged at global forums such as the Skoll World Forum in Oxford. The organization holds Thoropass AICPA SOC 2 Type II certification covering its platform and infrastructure, supporting partner and enterprise trust in its data handling practices.
Meedan firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Meedan
- Legal name
- Meedan
- Website
- https://meedan.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Meedan is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered verification and engagement tools—Check (multi-language fact-checking) and Suwali (archive-grounded chatbot)—for newsrooms and civil society organizations combating misinformation across 57 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Meedan industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Media Verification Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content Authenticity, Watermarking & Deepfake Detection (HDAAAKAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG), Human Oversight, Review & Content Moderation Tooling (HDAAAMAH)
Keywords
Where Meedan is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Meedan business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Grants & Philanthropic Funding: Meedan operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The majority of its revenue comes from grants and philanthropic funding from foundations. Recent grants include $500,000 from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation for synthetic media and GenAI content verification, and $2 million from the Skoll Foundation via the 2024 Skoll Award for Social Innovation.
- Donations: Individual and organizational donations supported via donorbox.org platform. Meedan actively solicits public donations as part of its funding model.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Meedan product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Meedan builds open-source software tools for newsrooms and civil society organizations to combat misinformation, verify content, and facilitate community engagement. Its two primary products are Check, a fact-checking and verification platform with 143,631 unique users in 2025 supporting 34 languages and dialects, and Suwali, a generative-AI chatbot that converts verified organizational archives into searchable, interactive knowledge bases with responses grounded exclusively in the organization's own verified data to prevent AI hallucinations.
Product overview
Meedan offers a portfolio of digital tools focused on combating misinformation, promoting election integrity, and addressing online harm globally. The product suite centers on two primary tools: Check (a fact-checking and verification platform with 143,631 unique users in 2025 supporting 34 languages) and Suwali (an AI-powered chatbot that transforms organizational archives into interactive knowledge bases). Meedan also addresses tech-facilitated gender-based violence through machine learning classification. The organization operates across 57 countries and partners with newsrooms and civil society groups to help people get informed, exercise their rights, and participate in democracy.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Suwali: An AI-powered chatbot designed to help newsrooms and civil society groups facilitate interactive community engagement. It transforms organizational archives into a searchable, interactive knowledge base, drawing answers exclusively from the organization's own verified data.
- Check
Products and services
- Check
Quantifiable outcome
- 143,631 unique users of Check tool in 2025
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Meedan
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Meedan technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature4 records
Meedan partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Al ManassacoreAl Manassa, an Egyptian independent media outlet, is the key development and pilot partner for Meedan's Suwali chatbot. With 800,000 monthly visitors mostly from Egypt, Al Manassa is currently testing Suwali before its wider public rollout expected by end of year. The chatbot transforms Al Manassa's archives into a searchable, interactive knowledge base drawing exclusively from verified data.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Meedan competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Full Fact: UK-based fact-checking charity operating automated verification tools and tiplines for newsrooms globally. Closest comparable to Meedan's Check platform, sharing the same nonprofit, multilingual, newsroom-focused model and serving many of the same civil society use cases.
- Logically: AI-powered content integrity platform combining fact-checking, narrative intelligence, and threat detection for governments, enterprises, and platforms. Directly comparable to Meedan's verification/synthetic media work but with a commercial, enterprise-led GTM.
- ActiveFence: Trust & safety platform providing AI-driven content moderation, misinformation detection, and threat intelligence at scale. Comparable to Meedan's Check and synthetic media verification offerings but targeting enterprise/platform customers commercially.
- Sensity AI: Specialist deepfake and synthetic media detection platform for enterprises, governments, and platforms. Directly comparable to Meedan's synthetic media verification capability, with overlapping technology and use cases.
- Truepic: Content authenticity and provenance infrastructure using cryptographic signing and C2PA-aligned standards. Comparable to Meedan's content authenticity work, focused on verifying the origin and integrity of digital media.
- Blackbird AI: Narrative intelligence platform detecting misinformation campaigns, coordinated inauthentic behavior, and harmful narratives. Comparable to Meedan's Check platform, particularly around tracking misinformation across multiple languages and sources.
- Hive: AI content moderation and classification API including deepfake, text, and image detection. Comparable to Meedan's ML classifiers for content verification, though Hive operates commercially via API.
- Maldita.es: Spanish fact-checking nonprofit with WhatsApp tiplines and structured verification methodologies. Comparable to Meedan's Check platform and tipline approach; peer among European fact-checking civil society organizations.
- First Draft: Former nonprofit (now part of Information Futures Lab at Brown) focused on verification training and tools for journalists. Historically a direct peer to Meedan in the newsroom verification and misinformation training space.
Others
- Content Authenticity Initiative: Adobe-led cross-industry coalition building C2PA content provenance standards. Adjacent to Meedan's synthetic media verification work, providing the underlying standard ecosystem rather than a competing product.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Meedan social profiles
Digital presenceMeedan compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Meedan financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Meedan leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Meedan funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Meedan M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Meedan
What does Meedan do?
Meedan builds open-source software tools for newsrooms and civil society organizations to combat misinformation, verify content, and facilitate community engagement. Its two primary products are Check, a fact-checking and verification platform with 143,631 unique users in 2025 supporting 34 languages and dialects, and Suwali, a generative-AI chatbot that converts verified organizational archives into searchable, interactive knowledge bases with responses grounded exclusively in the organization's own verified data to prevent AI hallucinations.
Is Meedan a public or private company?
Meedan is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Meedan founded?
Meedan was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Meedan based?
Meedan is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Meedan make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Grants & Philanthropic Funding is the primary driver. The others are donations.
Who are Meedan's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Full Fact, Logically, ActiveFence, Sensity AI, Truepic, Blackbird AI, Hive, Maldita.es and First Draft. Content Authenticity Initiative is listed as an others.
Does Meedan have an API?
No public API is recorded for Meedan.
What industry is Meedan in?
Meedan's product category is Media Verification Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAKAK, Content Authenticity, Watermarking & Deepfake Detection, with a secondary code of HDAEANAG, Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.