Private AI secures $10.7 million CAD to protect personal data from privacy breaches
Summary
Private AI, a startup that redacts sensitive information from texts, has secured a $10.7 million CAD ($8 million USD) Series A round to develop a new self-serve platform and refine its product.The startup uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, redact, and replace personal data in order to keep it safe.BDC Capital led the latest round of funding, with participation from new investors GIT1K, and Panda Angel Partners. The round closed on November 1.Private AI exists in a data-driven world where information is the most valuable currency, said Michelle Scarborough, managing partner, Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital. The firm previously received $300,000 in pre-seed funding in June 2020 from Differential and Forum (then known as Acceleprise), and then closed a $3.15 seed round in 2021. The latter included investment from astronaut Chris Hadfield.Businesses are sitting on unprecedented amounts of data, which advances in AI could finally help them leverage, Thaine said. However, Thaine said that even though a couple of financial institutions were interested in the idea, it wasnt going to scale to the degree Private AI wanted.The startup pivoted by 2019 and saw a gap where developers lacked an easy way to integrate privacy into their software.