Funding Champions: TrollWall – making the internet safer with AI (and the right funding)

Meet TrollWall: A Slovak startup with one mission — make the internet a safer, hate-free place.

Their tool? An AI-powered app that filters out toxic comments in real time. No need to scroll through hate speech. TrollWall steps in, hides the mess, and lets your community breathe. Simple, powerful, and built by a team that cares deeply about online respect and safety.

But even with strong tech and a bold mission, there was one big blocker: how to fund it.

The team had a clear goal: expand TrollWall’s language coverage and add AI-based crime categorization to improve accuracy and scale impact. But they didn’t need a €5M grant. They needed something smaller — just enough to unlock the next level. The catch? Small funding with big impact isn’t always easy to navigate in the EU landscape.

That’s when they reached out to Civitta — not for magic, but for clarity. Together, we worked through the “what now?” questions:

• What’s the right programme for a mission like ours?
• What should we build next?
• How do we connect our tech to broader EU priorities (without sounding fake)? 

We started with something basic: a long-term growth strategy that included funding. Not just one grant, but a sequence of steps — some we’d take now, some we’d keep in our back pocket.

TrollWall already had the vision. What they needed was a structure.

Once we laid out the roadmap, one funding programme stood out: a local innovation grant that supported R&D of digital technologies. The application wasn’t easy — these things never are — but TrollWall’s clarity of purpose made the difference.

They weren’t guessing. They weren’t trying to chase money. They knew what they wanted to build and why it mattered.

The grant came through. € 200 000. Enough to scale the tech, cover new languages, and kick off the AI categorization engine.

But more importantly, it gave TrollWall the momentum they needed — validation from outside, and confidence inside.

With new funding, TrollWall is expanding its product and its reach. No, this isn’t the end of the road. Startups are always in motion. But TrollWall’s story is a reminder:

“You don’t need millions to make a difference. You need a clear mission, a focused plan, and a bit of help to unlock the right support at the right time.”

• Small grants can be game changers — if they’re the right fit.
• Clarity beats perfection — knowing what you want to build is more important than having all the answers.
• Social impact matters — if your innovation can make lives better, EU funding is listening.

Because they didn’t wait for “someday.” They had a clear idea, believed in their mission, and acted on it. They proved that even small teams can tackle big challenges — like online hate — when they combine bold thinking with the right kind of funding support.

TrollWall is the kind of startup that inspires others to start their own funding journey. Not by playing the EU funding lottery, but by building smart, strategic paths forward.

And if you’re wondering whether your idea has funding potential — start by telling someone about it. Maybe even us.