Founded by two French serial entrepreneurs who have spent decades in Romania, the platform aims to be a trust-by-design alternative to X and Facebook, with a public launch set for May 2026.
A new social media platform that embeds real-time fact-checking directly into the user experience has raised €300,000 in pre-seed funding from Fil Rouge Capital, the Croatian-founded early-stage venture fund that expanded into Romania in 2025.
The startup, called eYou, was founded in Bucharest in 2026 by Grégoire Vigroux and Jasseem Allybokus, and is targeting a public launch in May, with a waitlist already open at eyou.social.
The platform’s central proposition is straightforward: when a user clicks on a post, an AI-generated assessment appears in a pop-up, drawing on what the platform describes as credible and neutral sources, summarising the veracity of the claims being made. The aim is to let users challenge misinformation in real time without interrupting the flow of the conversation itself.
eYou also introduces what it calls a transparency layer for the feed algorithm. Rather than keeping its recommendation logic hidden, the platform allows users to see and edit the profile the algorithm builds about them, with the option to deliberately broaden their content exposure and step outside algorithmically reinforced echo chambers. B
oth features are direct responses to the two criticisms most commonly levelled at mainstream social media: that it spreads misinformation faster than it can be corrected, and that it traps users in ideological bubbles they never chose to enter.
“Unlike traditional social networks that amplify engagement at any cost, eYou has been built to prioritise trust. Social media was originally meant to connect people and democratise information. But over time it has also become a powerful engine for polarisation and misinformation. We believe there is a real need, and urgent demand, for a new type of platform built around transparency, accountability and trust,” said Grégoire Vigroux, co-founder and CCO, eYou.
The platform has been built with GDPR compliance and European data protection standards at its core, a design choice the founders frame as a differentiator against the dominant US platforms and as an alignment with the regulatory environment in which European users increasingly expect to operate.
Jasseem Allybokus, co-founder and CEO, brings technical depth from his previous role as CTO at Visiperf, a French digital marketing technology company that serves more than 300 brands across 15,800-plus retail locations and 4,000 geographical zones. He was also a co-founder of Ecrilib, a community platform for creative writing.
“Most social platforms today are designed to show users more of what they already agree with. That reinforces echo chambers and allows misinformation to spread faster than facts. eYou introduces a radically different approach to online discussion, one built around European principles of transparency, accountability, and exposure to diverse viewpoints,” said Jasseem Allybokus, co-founder and CEO, eYou.
Vigroux is one of the more prolific serial entrepreneurs in the Romanian startup ecosystem. In 2007, he and business partners founded CallPoint New Europe, a BPO company that grew to more than 1,000 employees and was acquired by TELUS International, the Canadian global customer experience company, in 2012.
He served as Co-Founder and Vice-President Business Development for TELUS International in Europe and remained on the board until his shareholder exit in 2017. The company, operating as TELUS International Europe, now employs around 5,000 people across Romania and Bulgaria.
He has also co-founded BonApp, a mobile food waste app, and Fenix.eco, a refurbished smartphones store that was sold to Recommerce within 14 months of launch, among other ventures.
The €300,000 round comes from Fil Rouge Capital’s accelerator programme. The fund, originally Croatian but now expanded into Romania with Matei Dumitrescu as its local Venture Partner, runs a programme offering up to €300,000 in pre-seed funding for early-stage companies, with a pathway to up to €1 million in follow-on VC investment.
Fil Rouge Capital has backed more than 170 companies since its founding in 2014 and lists portfolio exits including DocPlanner and happn.
“The founders bring strong entrepreneurial experience, a clear vision, and they are tackling one of the most important challenges facing digital platforms today: trust. eYou has the potential to become the leading European social media player.” — Matei Dumitrescu, partner at one of the funds at Fil Rouge Capital
The platform will be available on iOS, Android, and via mobile and desktop web from its May 2026 public launch. eYou is open to users globally, though its architecture, regulatory design, and investor positioning are explicitly European.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
