UCL spin-out secures $1.8m to develop ethical data sharing platform

AI-led tech startup Hazy has secured $1.8m (c.£1.37m) in new seed funding.

The company, founded less than 18 months ago as a spin-out of University College London (UCL), is aiming to enable ethical, effortless and GDPR-compliant data sharing for responsible businesses.

The latest investment round was led by UCL Technology Fund, with participation from investors including Nationwide Building Society, Pentland, Amadeus Capital Partners and AI Seed.

Hazy’s total funding to date now stands at $2.8m (c.£2.13m). In May, it secured $1m after winning global startup competition Innovate.AI.

The company also raised £340k in pre-seed in October last year, in a round also led by UCL Technology Fund.

Hazy has created an online platform allowing businesses to share data responsibly and securely via a workflow tool that uses artificial intelligence to automatically anonymise and adapt to changing datasets.

Unlike its competitors, which Hazy said target enterprises with bespoke solutions, the firm offers a cloud-based platform that requires no technical integration – making it suitable for businesses ranging from SMEs to multinationals.

Harry Keen, chief exec of Hazy, said: “In recent months we have seen a seismic cultural shift around data.

“Consumers are acutely aware of the importance of data security and GDPR legislation means that businesses rightly now consider safe data-handling as mission-critical.”

He added: “Our technology ensures that huge, unwieldy data sets are GDPR-compliant. Recognising that most companies don’t have data experts, Hazy has been built to require zero technical integration, or any technical expertise.”

The UCL Technology Fund is managed by Albion Capital in collaboration with UCLB, the university’s commercialisation company.

David Grimm, investment director at Albion, commented: “Big data analytics offers unparalleled opportunities for start-ups and corporate giants alike, but also puts data security at the top of the agenda for the world’s regulators.

“Hazy’s solution is a game changer, enabling businesses to automatically anonymise complex datasets without the need for a lengthy technical integration with internal systems. We are excited to support the team through the next phase of growth.”