Who started factually.co?
Executive summary
The simplest, best-supported answer in the reporting provided is that an independent single developer created a fact‑checking project called “Factually” in November 2024; that assessment comes from Media Bias/Fact Check’s profile (which likely refers to the site often identified as Factually or factually.co) [1]. However, the web of similarly named organizations — Factually Health, Factly, The Factual and a UK company called FACTUALLY LIMITED — complicates any claim that a single founder named in one source is the only possible originator of “factually” as a brand [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. The direct claim: a lone developer founded “Factually” in Nov 2024
Media Bias/Fact Check reports that “Factually” is an independent fact‑checking tool created in November 2024 by a single developer, describing its mission, funding model and automated AI‑assisted workflow; the item frames the project as owned entirely by one developer and supported by voluntary donations [1]. That source explicitly characterizes the project’s origin (single developer, Nov 2024) and offers a concise description of how the site operates and how it positions itself in the fact‑checking ecosystem [1].
2. Why that answer is provisional: no direct domain registration or founder name in provided sources
None of the supplied documents includes a registrar record, a company filing, or a first‑person “About” page that explicitly ties the Media Bias/Fact Check description to the domain factually.co, or that names the developer who launched the tool [5] [1]. Companies House shows a FACTUALLY LIMITED entry exists in the UK corporate register, but Companies House does not verify filings and that record does not appear in the provided snippets to name a founder linked to the independent developer described by Media Bias/Fact Check [5]. Thus the statement “who started factually.co” can be answered only tentatively from the available reporting: an independent developer started a Factually project, but the materials here do not prove the developer’s identity or a corporate wrapper for factually.co.
3. Confounding similarly named entities: Factually Health, Factly, The Factual and Factal
A separate organization, Factually Health, explicitly lists founders and leaders — including Lina Forcier (CEO), Genevieve Poliquin and Leo Hartman — and presents a founding narrative centered on an AI health information platform; that’s a different enterprise using “Factually” branding in a health context [2]. Another entity, Factly, is credited to five founders in a Tracxn profile (Shashi Kiran Deshetti et al.), while The Factual (an algorithmic news‑rating company) was founded by Arjun Moorthy and Ajoy Sojan and later acquired by Yahoo [3] [4] [6]. Factal, yet another similarly named organization, traces back to founders of BreakingNews.com [7]. These entries show multiple separate ventures with overlapping name patterns, underscoring the risk of conflating them when answering “who started factually.co” [2] [3] [4] [7].
4. What the evidence supports and what it does not
The evidence supports that a project called “Factually” — presented as an independent, single‑developer fact‑checking tool created in November 2024 — exists and is described in third‑party media‑watch resources [1]. The evidence does not, however, provide the developer’s name, a direct link to factually.co’s registration or hosting records, or a corporate filing that clearly establishes proprietorship; additionally, multiple unrelated organizations use closely related names, which can create confusion for researchers [5] [2] [3]. Therefore, the claim that a single developer “started factually.co” is the best reading of the supplied sources but should be treated as provisional until primary registration or an official About statement from factually.co is produced.
5. Bottom line for attribution
Based on the reporting provided, assign credit to an independent single developer as the originator of the Factually fact‑checking project described in Media Bias/Fact Check — with the caveat that no name or corporate record for factually.co was supplied, and other “Factually/Factly/Factual/Factal” entities are distinct and have different founders [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Further confirmation would require direct domain records or an explicit About/Founders page for factually.co.