Moonshot CVE
London-based online counter-extremism technology company; CSSF contractor
| Moonshot CVE | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Registered at Companies House |
| Founded | 21 May 2015 (incorporated) |
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| Defunct | |
| Headquarters | 18 St. Cross Street, Moonshot Cve Ltd, 4th Floor, London, England, EC1N 8UN |
| Industry | Other information service activities not elsewhere classified |
| Services | |
| Parent | |
| Subsidiaries | |
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| Homepage | |
Moonshot CVE (Moonshot Cve Ltd, Companies House number 09603360) is a contractor to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). Companies House records it as incorporated on 21 May 2015, status "Active", nature of business "63990 - Other information service activities not elsewhere classified", with registered office at 18 St. Cross Street, Moonshot Cve Ltd, 4th Floor, London, England, EC1N 8UN.[1][2] It is a named supplier on Lot 1 of the CSSF Framework Agreement 2023–27.[3] FCO and FCDO payments to it over £25,000 recorded in published departmental spending data total about £383,957; these figures cover all FCO/FCDO (and, after September 2020, former Department for International Development) programmes and are not limited to the CSSF.[4]
Overview
The Guardian reported in 2020 that Moonshot, founded in September 2015 by Vidhya Ramalingam and Ross Frenett, "is a for-profit company that earns its income from government contracts in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and across western Europe". It said the company works from "a secret location in London" and uses "a mixture of software and human judgment" to identify people interested in extremist propaganda and serve them counter-messaging.[5] The European Commission's Radicalisation Awareness Network describes Moonshot's Redirect Method as using "targeted advertising to connect people searching online for harmful content with constructive alternative messages". The method was piloted with Google's Jigsaw in 2016.[6]
CSSF and other UK government work
Moonshot is a named Lot 1 supplier on the 2023–27 CSSF framework; FCO payments to it are recorded in 2016–17 (see below).
FCO/FCDO payments
| Year | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 93,115 |
| 2017 | 290,842 |
| Total | 383,957 |
People
| Name | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Ross Frenett | Director | 21 May 2015 |
| Vidhya Ramalingam | Director | 1 October 2015 |
See also
Notes
- ↑ Companies House, Moonshot Cve Ltd (09603360) Companies House, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Companies House, Moonshot Cve Ltd (09603360): officers Companies House, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Framework Agreement (2023-2027): contract award notice 029743-2023 Find a Tender Service, 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO departmental spending over £25,000 GOV.UK, 2010–2020; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO: departmental spending over £25,000 GOV.UK, 2020–2026.
- ↑ The Guardian, ‘A threat to health is being weaponised’: inside the fight against online hate crime The Guardian, 2 May 2020.
- ↑ European Commission, Radicalisation Awareness Network, The Redirect Method (TRM) Migration and Home Affairs, accessed 16 October 2026.