Data privacy startup Private AI closes an over-subscribed seed round

Private AI, which has created privacy-preserving machine learning and natural language processing technology, has closed its seed round on $3.15m.

The round was led by Microsoft’s venture arm M12 and Forum Ventures. The heavily over-subscribed investment round was also supported by Differential Ventures, along with new investors Shasta Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital, as well as Parliament Angels, a group of early Twilio employees.

This capital burst will help Private AI to provide developers with improved tools, hire more staff and further its acquisition efforts for domestic and international customers.

Private AI has had a strong 2021, with its revenue growing sixfold since the beginning on the year.

The company was founded by Patricia Thaine, Pieter Luitjens, and Professor Gerald Penn. While they were experimenting with prototype browser extensions and apps, they noticed how susceptible most software and data pipelines are to data leaks and breaches. To implement adequate privacy safeguards into those workflows also proved tricky.

Following this, the trio went and created a tool to redact sensitive information from text. Private AI, which can be implemented into existing systems through a few lines of code, is a set of privacy-preserving machine learning and natural language processing tools. Through this, companies can bolster their GDPR compliance and redacts sensitive data.

M12 Principal Priyanka Mitra said, “Companies of all sizes are under pressure to comply with customer data governance regulations . and to protect sensitive data. In parallel, business digitization is accelerating, and more customer data unlocks more insights and enhanced AI/ML model training capabilities.

“We’re thrilled to support the world-class team at Private AI as they augment their customers’ data redaction and pseudonymization capabilities, improving enterprise security posture without sacrificing business intelligence.”

What separates Private AI from other similar solutions, is its easy to implement nature. A developer only needs to add three lines of code and operates as a black box. The technology boasts 99% accuracy in identifying and redacting sensitive information and supports seven languages.

With the close of the round, the RegTech company has raised a total of $3.45m in funding.

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